by Dannika Dark
I pulled a bowl of peanuts in front of me and offered him an apologetic glance. “Beer is fine.”
He wagged his finger at me. “I’m going to look that up when I go home. Next time you come in, order it.”
I looked over my shoulder toward the back of the room, behind all the tables. Wheeler was racking up the balls at the pool table while Austin, Lexi, and Naya chalked their sticks. They were playing in teams, though I couldn’t tell if it was couples or men against women. A few men standing nearby caught sight of Austin’s tattoos and backed up a step. In the surrounding territories, those who didn’t know Packmasters by their faces knew them by their markings.
William stole the seat to my left and pulled the bowl of peanuts toward him. “It’s a good thing you traveled young. I’m sure it was difficult to be away, but it becomes harder to do the older you get.”
“Why is that?”
He licked the salt from his fingers. “Older things tend to grow roots.”
“Mom planted the idea in my head pretty young. It wasn’t easy to leave as a teen, but I guess at the time it seemed like a big adventure and a whole lot of freedom. I’m fortunate; I can’t thank her and the pack enough for paying for my education.”
William ate another handful of peanuts. “Life is an education, perhaps the most important one you’ll ever receive. Just look at my situation with how I came into this pack.”
“I was young when that happened with Ivy.”
“Indeed. But it worked out for the best. Caleb moved to second-in-command, and I found a pack much like the one I grew up in. Like you, I traveled young. Common for young wolves after going through their first change. It’s important for us to get out and experience life, because those experiences are going to come into play when we finally return home.”
“How so?”
William ate another peanut and then pushed the bowl away. “Austin was once a bounty hunter, and that groomed him for a leadership position. He learned patience, authority, independence, but also how not to lead a pack based on the lowlifes he caught. Same with Reno.”
I laughed and sipped the beer Frank had set down. “And Jericho with his music career?”
“I think it taught him who he didn’t want to be, what’s important in life, and who matters. We glean a little from our experiences—especially the blunders.”
“A valid argument, but I don’t think it applies to me. I didn’t have anything exciting happen while I was away.”
He turned to face the room, his elbows on the bar. “Maybe that was your lesson.”
Yeah, I learned how alone I felt in the world no matter where I was, but I didn’t tell William that. He probably already knew. Just sitting there in the bar, smelling different colognes and perfumes mingling, hearing an old Aerosmith song, and listening to the laughter of people I’d known all my life filled me with so many conflicting feelings. I didn’t have a father, and the only reason the pack had taken us in was because of Lexi. I’d never met my older brother, Wes, who died before I was born. I knew my pack had a sense of love and obligation to me, but my mom was right. What kind of life could I have living with them? I was a girl with one foot in the human world and the other in the Breed world, and neither one wanted me. What would happen if I met a nice human guy and brought him home to meet the Cole brothers? It was unavoidable that no matter whom I chose, I’d have to tell him my sister was a wolf. Grounds for divorce?
William snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You moved back home and you’re still a million miles away.”
I clutched his shoulder and rested my head on it. “I’m sorry. It’s just overwhelming to be back home.”
He kissed the top of my head. “If you need anyone to talk to…”
“Thanks.”
I could never confide in William. I loved him to bits and he gave sound advice, but we’d never been close like that. Not many girls want to confide their deepest and darkest secrets to their brother, and that’s what he was to me.
“Oh shit,” William murmured so low I barely heard him.
When I turned around, Denver was strutting in our direction with a gorgeous woman on his arm. Gorgeous was an understatement. She had stunning blond hair that put mine to shame—silky and floating on air. She smiled wide with her perfect teeth, and then my gaze traveled down to her black dress, which was nothing more than an outline of her body. It hugged every scandalous curve and showed off her long legs, which glowed as if they’d been rubbed with the most exotic oils known to mankind. She looked like one of my princess dolls come to life, her onyx teardrop necklace drawing attention to her perfectly shaped breasts.
Heads turned.
William jumped between us and I couldn’t see Denver anymore.
“Hey, Will. This is Nadia, my date. Nadia, this is William, my packmate.”
“How do you do,” she said in an elegant voice, accented in Russian.
Urgh! I just wanted to hurl peanuts at her. Even the perfume that wafted off her was sophisticated and refined.
“A pleasure,” William said politely as he bowed.
He not only bowed lower than normal but also stayed down longer than necessary for a greeting. When I glanced up, Denver was looking at me with the same startled expression as Spartacus, so I thumped William on the behind with a flick of my finger.
William sat back down. “Denver, I’ll let you finish introductions.” When he turned to drink his beer, I wanted to curl up and die.
Denver took a step closer to Nadia and curved his arm around her narrow waist. “Nadia, this is Maizy, my uh…”
“I believe… packmate is the word you’re searching for,” William offered.
Denver had failed to introduce William as the third-in-command, undoubtedly so no one would outshine him. I could sense it had rubbed William the wrong way.
Denver sliced a hot glare at him. “Maizy, this is Nadia Kaz… Kaizer—”
“Kozlov,” she corrected. Nadia assessed me, her gaze critical, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Are you a new addition to the pack, or are you on your way out soon? Let me know if you’re scouting for a pack. I happen to know a Packmaster in search of a good bitch.”
“Too bad you’re not available,” I muttered.
William made an abrupt sound, and beer dribbled down his chin and onto the bar.
“Would you repeat that?” she asked in a tone that told me she’d heard exactly what I said and was hoping to challenge it.
“If I were a parrot I might. But as it stands, I’m a human.”
Her eyes widened and she jerked her neck back. “You take in humans?” she asked Denver. “To live with your pack?”
Denver shrugged indifferently. “They’ve been with us for years.”
His eyes caught mine and our gazes became tangled—neither of us able to look away. My heart thumped against my chest and anger heated my veins. He was so dismissive, as though I was no better than the old leather sofa that’d been sitting around in our living room for years.
Nadia pinched his chin and steered the direction of his gaze. “Let’s go find a quiet place to talk.”
When they turned away, Nadia walked two steps ahead and shook her hips with each step, causing her ass to swing like the bells of Notre-Dame.
“She forgot to bring a leash for her date,” I growled.
William glanced over his shoulder. “Mustn’t let it bother you. Denver’s been dating for centuries, or haven’t you noticed?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were stirring the pot.”
A half smile curved up his cheek. “A good stew always needs stirring. Tell me about the men you’ve dated.”
“English men are different. They like to sing when they drink, and they seem a little more reserved than Americans, but maybe it’s just the crowd I hung out with.”
“Did they treat you well?”
I took another sip of my beer. “I guess. Everyone made me aware of my American accent. I go
t a lot of heat when I first moved there and was still using words like y’all or fixin’. I dropped some of those words from my vocabulary after a couple of years.”
“I noticed. People will always find a way to single you out because you’re different. Mustn’t let ’em get to you. Why don’t you mingle with the pack? I’m going to see if anyone is up for a game of darts.” William winked and strolled off with an air of confidence.
Meanwhile, I was fixin’ to order another beer.
***
After losing count of how many beers I’d ordered, it occurred to me how stressed out I’d become over the Denver situation.
Now, completely inebriated, I suddenly gained newfound confidence. The kind that had me staggering over to Denver’s table.
I’d never cared much about fashion. As a kid, I used to wear lots of princess dresses. But after hitting my teens, I realized how insignificant I was in the world of Breed. I had no friends my age, didn’t go to school, and therefore had no reason to dress up. Style just became something I associated with people who had someone to impress.
Nadia’s sable-brown eyes lowered to my frayed jean shorts, and I saw a familiar look on her face. The kind women give when they realize you’re not a threat to their game. I wanted her to say something bitchy so I could find a valid reason to hate her.
“Do join us,” she offered.
Denver suddenly scooted his chair to the left and put a few inches of air between them. “Where’s Lexi?” he asked, searching the room. “Why don’t you hang out with her?”
I gracefully sank into the chair and crossed my legs. “Because I’m no longer an adolescent who needs to be shooed away from the table when the grown-ups are talking. Why won’t you talk to me?”
“Maizy, I’m on a date, and your pupils are spinning like pinwheels. How many beers have you had?”
I pulled his beer toward me. “You never call me Maizy,” I murmured. “Why did you stop writing?”
Denver leaned forward and pulled his beer away from me. “I don’t think this is the time.”
“Well I do. I think this is the perfect time to address why I’ve been sending you handwritten letters since I was sixteen, and you decided five years ago to stop writing me back. Five years. Don’t you care about me anymore?”
“That’s bullshit. You’re the one who fucking left.”
“To go to school!”
“Plenty of schools here.”
I stood up, fueled by alcohol and crumbling inhibitions. “And you had plenty of opportunities to come see me. Every time I came home to visit, you were never around. I can’t believe you just cut me off like that. Oh God, what am I saying?” I covered my face.
“Why don’t you go home?” he said sullenly.
“Because I don’t know where home is.” Tears burned my eyes and I clenched my teeth, refusing to give in to my emotional outburst.
Nadia pulled out a silver compact and began checking the makeup she’d lacquered onto her face.
Something flickered in Denver’s expression—an emotion I couldn’t read. “I’m sorry about this, Nadia. Maybe I better drive you home.”
She stroked his bicep and gave it a squeeze. “Sounds perfect. We can just leave my car at your house and pick it up in the morning.”
My stomach lurched, and two words raced through my head: my Denver.
When a smile touched his lips, I lost it. “Someday I’m going to be dead and you’re going to regret the way you treated me.”
When I turned to walk off, he flew out of his seat and caught my arm. “Maizy, wait. Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a date here and this is just awkward as fuck. You show up unexpectedly and now you’re drunk. Since when did you start drinking?”
When I faced him, my anger broke into pieces. “I just wanted to talk to you. Without all the walls and the drama. You were more than my watchdog; you were my best friend. But what was I to you?”
Denver’s hand curled around the back of my neck and he pressed a soft kiss to my head. “Don’t cry.”
As I began to lean into him, Nadia wedged between us. “I hate to break up the reunion, but I think we better leave.”
When I stepped back, the distance created a magnetic pull. I felt it, but I was doubtful that Denver did.
“Go home, Maze. Sleep off some of that jet lag, and you’ll feel different about all this in the morning.”
Nadia led him away with a tug of his hand. Denver didn’t seem like the type of man a woman like her would go for. He liked to hang around the house, snack on junk food, play horseshoes, and sometimes jump in the lake. Naya couldn’t have paired two people who were more opposite.
But maybe opposites really do attract.
Chapter 4
Denver sat on the edge of Nadia’s white sofa, afraid of getting it dirty. His mind was reeling and had been since earlier that day when he’d first realized the beautiful woman standing in their foyer was Maizy.
Even though the pack had taken pictures on their visits to Europe, looking at the photos had been too difficult, so he usually gave them just a cursory glance. It was as if she’d blossomed into a woman overnight—hardly recognizable from the child he’d once known, outside of her dimples and light blue eyes. Those were the only familiar markers to him; everything else belonged to someone he didn’t know.
“Would you like something to eat?” Nadia called out from the kitchen. “I have a little lamb left over from last night.”
“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Mary, would it?”
“Pardon?”
Denver stared at a massive curio cabinet filled with expensive-looking figurines. “Chips, if you got any. Anything with cheese.”
A moment later, Nadia entered the living room with a small tray of cheese. Not just mild cheddar, but the gourmet shit, all sliced up. She set the silver tray on the coffee table and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know why you took your shoes off.”
Denver glanced down at his white socks, realizing he had a hole in the toe. “Habit. Didn’t want to track any dirt on your floor.”
Without warning, she climbed onto Denver’s lap and pushed him back, straddling him. “Mmm, I like a dirty man,” she whispered against his ear before nibbling on the lobe. Her tongue did things that made a shiver creep down his spine.
Denver immediately grew hard.
“Slow down, honeypie. Don’t you want to watch TV or something?”
She giggled against his neck and her hot breath made him tense up. “I don’t own a television. Is that what you normally do on a date? No wonder…” Then her mouth began sucking the skin on his neck.
Denver pushed her off him. “No wonder what?”
Nadia wiped the lipstick that had smeared across her chin. “Naya told me that you come off as a player, but you don’t actually… play. Don’t worry. I like my men on the reserved side. No one wants a car that’s been driven by everyone in town.”
“What the hell gives you the impression I’m reserved?” Denver shook his head. He was anything but shy.
She walked her middle and index fingers up his leg. “Because I’m over here and you’re over there?”
“Maybe I like the game of seduction,” he said, which was a lie. Denver either got down to it or he didn’t at all. The assertive women were often the ones who turned him off, and usually he’d split before they made it to the bed. That seemed to go against the grain of male instinct among Shifters.
“I appreciate a man with high standards, and I’m sure that’s why you’re so selective.”
Nadia stood up in front of him and turned around, giving him a full view of her backside. Denver stretched his arms on either side of the sofa, watching with curiosity. She reached around and slowly unzipped her dress until it revealed the fine curve of her spine. With a soft whisper of the delicate fabric, it slipped off her shoulders and fell to the floor.
He should have stayed hard, but it was as if the direction of his blood had been thrown into reverse. When she tur
ned around, she lowered her arms unabashedly, revealing her magnificent breasts and small, brown nipples. His eyes were drawn to her belly ring, and he wondered why a woman would want her navel pierced.
“Why don’t you touch me and we’ll do this nice and slow?”
He leaned forward, feeling skittish. “We barely know each other.”
She reached for his hand and placed it on her warm thigh. “This is all you need to know. We’re both too old to be playing cat and mouse.”
When she let go of his hand, he held it there as if it were glued. “Are you looking for a mate?”
Nadia leaned forward until her bare breasts brushed against his face. “I’m looking for a man who will pleasure me—a companion who will treat me like a lady.” Her fingers curled in his hair and…
All he could think about was Maizy. What the fuck? He just left her alone at the bar… drunk. Sure, she was with the pack, but the protective watchdog instinct had resurfaced tenfold since she’d walked back into his life. And here he was, sitting on a plush sofa with award-winning breasts mashed against his face, and the only thing he wanted to do was get his ass back to Howlers.
“Want me to keep the heels on or off?” she purred, beginning to climb aboard the Denver Express again. The only problem was the train wasn’t moving out of the station because it had run out of steam.
He gently pushed her back. “Wait a second.” He rose to his feet and looked down, unable to ignore all the nudity presented before him like a gift from the gods. “Look, you’re sexy as hell, but you’re a bag of nuts if you think I’m going to fuck you on that white sofa.”
She gripped his shirt. “Then let’s go to my bedroom.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Do you appraise all your dates like a future bride? We had a stimulating conversation tonight. We get along, and you can’t deny it. Our personalities blend well, so who knows what will happen? I just want to see if the chemistry is there. Why drag this out for a week or a month when we can find out immediately if there’s passion between us?”
