The Fortis wolves cheered loudly in agreement, the room filling with the sounds of clattering plates and scraping chairs. I helped stack the chairs as Archer and Miles effortlessly picked up the twenty-foot head table and moved it against the wall.
Dancing was not my forte, so I leaned against the edge of the table and observed as pack members spilled onto the free floor space, wondering how much longer it would be until I could politely leave. Within seconds, Archer was in front of me, standing closer than he had any right to be, yet somehow not close enough. The tug-of-war taking place between my body and my brain was exacerbating my rapidly shortening temper.
“How long are you staying here?” Archer asked into my hair, taking advantage of the crowded room and the people trying to squeeze onto the dancefloor by wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me out of the way.
Pressed up to his firm chest with his muscular arm encircling my waist, I wanted to forget all the reasons I had to hate him. Our bodies fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, perfectly aligned.
“I’m going back tomorrow,” I replied, cursing the husky tone of my voice. I’d planned on staying longer, but Archer’s sudden appearance in my life had thrown me for a loop and I wanted to be in my own space.
“Come back with us. We’ll drive you home,” Archer murmured, nuzzling my hair and leaving his scent all over me.
As tempting as it was to not spend an entire day sitting on a bus, my pride prickled at his demand. Tonight had been about appeasing my grandparents and giving Archer a taste of what he couldn’t have. It wasn’t the start of some grand love story.
“No thanks,” I said breezily, slipping out of his grip and making my way to the bottom of the stairs. “I guess I’ll see you back on campus.”
I chanced a look over my shoulder and caught Archer’s incredulous stare. Good. He would have to do a lot better than that.
✽✽✽
“You’ll come back, won’t you,” Eloise stated rather than asked, giving me a stern, distinctly grandmotherly look. “Your cousins will be devastated they missed you — Sadie in particular.”
“Both Sadie and Alec are planning on touring the college soon,” George added. “Maybe you could show them around.”
I smiled a little at that idea. George and Eloise had been unexpectedly great. Maybe my uncle and his family would be too. It might be nice to have cousins my age on campus.
“I’m sure you haven’t seen the last of me,” I assured Eloise, accepting the hug she was offering me. Fates, how long had it been since I’d been hugged like this? Probably just before my twelfth birthday, before my parents were afraid of me.
I shouldered my duffel bag and made my way down the steps to where Tobias was waiting in the running car to drop me at the bus depot.
“Oh, and granddaughter?” George called from behind me. “Make that mate of yours work for it. A little groveling is good character building, especially for a future Alpha.”
I snorted, waving my hand above my head to let him know I’d heard him. The groveling part was a given. It was the mate part I had an issue with.
Tobias gave me a reluctant farewell at the bus stop, glaring furiously over my head at the black truck idling across the street the entire time. I wasn’t entirely surprised Archer had followed me to make sure I got on the bus safely, I’d heard that dominant males had issues with personal space. The fastest way to irritate him would be to pay him no attention, so that’s exactly what I did.
Two hours of studious ignoring was making the vein in my forehead throb. Archer was following the goddamn bus the entire route back to Carson. Well, he was following me. I’m sure if I got off and walked, he’d trail in his truck behind me down the road like a creeper.
Every time I glanced back at him, he’d give me a cheery wave and a smug grin, raising his eyebrow in challenge. I could practically hear him thinking ‘get in the truck, Wren,’ from here. Fortunately, Miles seemed to alternate between napping and playing on his phone, minding his business. I couldn’t deal with two sets of smug stares.
On some level, I appreciated that he was ensuring I got home okay even though I was more than capable of looking after myself. His proximity settled my wolf — who was already aggravated by leaving Archer and had practically lost her shit getting on a bus packed with humans. Why did they have to wear aftershave?
On the other hand, sitting on the bus while he followed behind me in his fancy truck was a whole fresh kind of humiliating. I’d never been ashamed of being poor before — I worked for every cent I had and I was proud of that — but suddenly, seeing Archer’s flash truck and nice clothes, I felt like a have-not. It was an unwelcome sensation.
I put on my headphones, turning the volume down to the lowest setting, which was all my ears could handle. Scrolling through the playlists, I found one for badass women who destroyed the men that wronged them, and settled myself into my seat as comfortably as I could.
Fuck it, if he wanted to spend an extra three hours driving at snail’s pace behind me, let him.
The bus ride felt like it took ten days, not ten hours. By the time I made it back to the house, I was looking forward to putting on a load of washing and curling up on the couch to watch a movie.
Maybe a romance. I could use some escapism.
I lugged my duffel bag upstairs and dumped it at the foot of my twin bed. Already the four walls of my tiny room felt suffocating. My wolf pushed up against me angrily, demanding a run.
I flopped down on the bed on my stomach. Maybe I should just join my grandparents’ pack and live on their territory? They seemed like good people. The pack was much nicer than the one I grew up in, but I hadn’t seen them around the runts or latents either.
That was the true test of any pack — how they treated their weakest members.
My wolf snarled, lashing out in fury at the idea of me joining the Fortis Pack. Grumbling, I stood and gathered my dirty laundry before heading down to the basement. It’s not like I had some fantastic, luxurious life here that I’d be giving up, but it was my life.
And then there was Archer.
I finished loading the machine and turned it on. Tea. There was nothing a hot cup of tea and freshly baked cinnamon rolls couldn’t fix.
Chapter 13
Archer
My muscles were still cramped and achy from sitting in the truck for 40,000 hours crawling behind that fucking bus, but I had zero regrets. I was going to embrace every single instinct I’d been fighting with Wren. Number one was getting all up in her grill, all of the time. If I had eyes on her, I knew she was safe.
Safe, but not happy. Obviously. I’d done a bang-up job at ensuring her unhappiness. That shit was temporary though, I would prove to her I could make her the happiest she-wolf in the world. I would make her the happiest she-wolf in the world.
I’d been hoping to see Wren yesterday, and I’d hung around her place like a stalker so I could tag along with her wherever she went, but she’d hidden inside the house all day. She couldn’t hide from me forever, no matter how much she wanted to. I’d sweet talked her boss and I knew Wren was due back at work on Monday and while I could wait until then, I’d probably go out of my mind if I did.
I stopped by the grocery store and picked out the ugliest bunch of flowers I could find. If I bought her something pretty, she’d ignore them. Every time she looked at this monstrosity, she’d be forced to think about me. I was going to get under her skin like a stubborn splinter until she fell irrevocably in love with me.
Wren’s house was quiet, her roommates were still away. I could smell Wren’s scent from inside as I approached the front stoop, and I inhaled it greedily. She didn’t cover it up when she was home.
“Go away,” Wren muttered from somewhere in the house, just loud enough for my wolfy ears to pick up.
“Aw, come on. I bought you flowers.” I grinned to myself like an idiot, standing outside her closed front door.
“Feel free to shove them the same place yo
u’ve been hiding for the past few months.” There was the distinctive thud of a coffee cup hitting a table a little harder than necessary.
“Perfect, I’m already outside your house. I suppose I could leave them outside your work too. I’ve spent quite a lot of time hiding there.”
I strained my ears, but silence greeted me. Eventually Wren’s quiet footsteps approached the front door.
“Are you going to let me in, little bird?”
“Don’t call me that,” she hissed, all fire and venom. I adjusted my jeans uncomfortably. “And no. I am not.”
She didn’t move away from the door though.
“Fine,” I said with a put-upon sigh even as I smiled. “We can get to know each other through the door. What’s your favorite kind of dinosaur? Don’t pretend you don’t have one.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Wren replied, with a lot less heat in her voice. “Goodbye.”
She moved away from the door and I heard the creaking of stairs. Honestly, it was better than I’d hoped for considering she’d just ignored my existence yesterday. I left the flowers on her doorstep and made my way back to the truck. I wasn’t about to leave her alone, but I needed more supplies.
✽✽✽
I definitely underestimated my girl’s stubbornness. I’d been a near constant fixture on her front porch for the past three days and she still hadn’t let me in. By day two, I’d started leaving her care packages in case she didn’t have any food in there. Wren always waited until I was gone before bringing them in the house.
I knew as a dominant female, she’d never admit that she was hiding from me. She was totally hiding, though.
No matter, Wren had work today so she couldn’t avoid me. I was going to exploit the fuck out of it. Starting by reading my whole Public Finance textbook at the coffee shop today, to prepare for spring semester. Maybe I’d even take notes, highlight some shit. All of this stalking would be excellent for my grades.
Miles was still asleep when I left the house at nine am, which was unsurprising. Usually I’d sleep until at least midday if I didn’t have class. It was a special treat that only happened while I was in Carson because Dad would never let that kind of laziness slide at home.
As tempting as my bed was, today was day one of inserting myself into Wren’s life like I belonged there and showing her I wasn’t an entirely selfish bastard. It was also day one of getting my shit together and adulting like a boss. Flynn had agreed to head to my cabin at the edge of the territory every couple of days where the cellphone reception worked so we could talk. He’d never ask for help or admit that he was struggling, but at least if we talked, I’d have a better idea of what he was going through.
I entered the coffee shop with my backpack slung over my shoulder, prepared to camp out and study all morning. I was aiming for her to acknowledge me at least three times. Even if it was in the form of snappy retorts and glares, her attitude got me hard as steel, anyway. As much as I wanted her to put on a show and rub herself all over me like a cat the way she’d done while we had dinner with the Fortis Pack, I got the feeling that tactic hadn’t worked out quite the way she’d wanted and Wren didn’t seem like the type to repeat her failures.
She was working the counter when I came in, her eyes immediately snapping to mine as I walked in the door. She was trying to be discreet about it but I noticed her nose twitch. Wren was inhaling my scent just as much as I was savoring her exotic jasmine signature.
Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail with a blue headband tied in a bow just off-centre on her head, bangs brushing her dark lashes. She was wearing a long-sleeve mustard t-shirt and dark blue skinny jeans on under her gray work apron.
I don’t think I’d ever seen a more beautiful woman.
Why had I put this off again?
Her gaze narrowed as I approached the counter, her full pouty lips pressed into a tight line. I grinned. Anger I could work with.
As if she’d read my mind, Wren’s face morphed into a mask of perfect, neutral professionalism.
“What can I get you?” she asked politely.
Fuck that. I’d take her passion, love, anger, even her hatred. But I wouldn’t settle for her indifference.
“What do you recommend, little bird?”
“Do I look like a little bird to you?” she snapped, her tone scathing.
I smirked, and she huffed in irritation, putting her waitress face back on when she realized she’d risen to my bait.
“You look like a fierce as hell she-wolf, but go ahead and lie to me, tell me you don’t find the nickname a bit cute.”
Wren pursed her lips, her eyes narrowed dangerously on me. She said nothing, though. She totally liked the nickname.
“What’s your favorite kind of coffee, little bird? I’ll grab one of those,” I replied, ignoring her question. It hadn’t escaped my notice that she had yet to say my name. No matter. She’d be screaming it before too long. I could be a selfish bastard, but I was a generous lover.
“To go?” Wren asked hopefully.
“No, I think I’ll stick around,” I replied smugly, moving toward a table for two that had the perfect view of the counter.
Wren scowled at me again before busying herself behind the coffee machine. I pulled out my laptop and textbook. Come at me, Public Finance.
Wren put a frothy drink down in front of me and stood back with her arms crossed. Grateful she hadn’t stormed off yet, I grabbed the cup and took a sip. This was much nicer than the drip coffee I usually drank.
“I like it. What is it?”
“A macchiato. You told me to make you my favorite,” Wren explained, her irritation waning slightly.
“You have excellent taste,” I replied with my sexiest half smile, the one that made all the girls melt.
“Not in men,” she muttered, entirely unimpressed, before spinning on her heel and getting back to work. This time my grin was genuine.
Fuck, being around her was agony. It was the sweetest kind of torture. The urge to claim her was riding me hard. I couldn’t not be around her. Barely resisted the urge to touch her. Spent half the time with her wanting to sink my cock into her, and the other half wanting to absorb every word she said and learn everything there was to know about her.
My fingers practically tingled at the memory of stroking the bare skin on her back at that dinner. I didn’t even know skin could be that soft. By the time I got out of here, there’d be a zipper impression on my hard-on from my jeans.
It galled me she didn’t seem to struggle with the claiming urge as much as I was. Two hours had passed, and I’d got nothing more than irritated glares and huffs from Wren.
She disappeared into the kitchen for a while and my wolf paced impatiently, frustrated that she was out of my line of sight. I half suspected she’d snuck out through the back entrance and almost fell out of my chair in shock when Wren dropped into the seat opposite me and shoved a plate of food across the table at me.
She was surly as hell about it and I knew her natural urge to care for her mate was kicking in, the same way my natural urge to protect and possess my mate had been riding me since the moment I realized who she was to me. Plus, she was a Luna. They often expressed their nurturing side through food.
“What’s this?” I asked, inspecting the plateful of elaborate looking sandwiches, oozing cheese.
“Chicken florentine grilled cheese,” she grumbled. “I made it. I need to eat. You need to eat. I don’t want to take up another table. Don’t make it into a thing.”
It was 100% a thing.
I groaned as I bit into the sandwich. “Fates, this is good. I didn’t know you were such a talented cook.”
“Well, you wouldn’t, since you were avoiding me and all,” she replied primly and I had completely walked into that one. “I enjoy feeding people.”
I hid my grin behind another bite of the best sandwich I’d ever tasted. Lunas were always heavily involved in feeding the pack, either getting involved in the kitchen
or planning and organizing the meals. As a child, most memories of my mom were of her standing at the stove in the enormous pack kitchen, stirring something or other.
“Have you thought about applying to the culinary program here? I’m not saying you need it,” I clarified quickly. “You might enjoy it though.”
“Oh. Um, no. College wasn’t ever really an option for me,” Wren replied with a slow blink. I loved knocking her off balance, she was always much more honest with me when I caught her off guard. I was desperate to ask her about why college wasn’t an option for her — I wanted to know everything about the weird pack she’d grown up in — but I had a feeling she’d shut down if I tried.
“I’ll give you the details for the scholarship program Miles and I are on. It’s, er, unique to our requirements,” I told her quietly. There weren’t that many humans around during winter break, but there were too many to talk openly.
“Really? That’s a thing?”
“I’ll tell you more about it later, but yeah. The packs all got together and decided that this college would be neutral territory so the young people could study here. Miles and I are the pilot program pretty much, but my brother is attending next year.”
“My cousins too, by the sounds of it,” Wren replied thoughtfully.
We were finally having a civil conversation when we were interrupted. I glared at the intruder. Human. Brown hair, green eyes, muscular for a human but no match for a shifter.
My wolf didn’t like the way he was looking at my mate. I didn’t much like it either. The human was angling for a spot as her Alpha mate. That spot was very much taken.
Well, pretty much taken.
“Wren?” he asked, shooting an almost pleading look. “How are you? I tried to call you over break, but I guess you were busy…” he trailed off, looking between the two of us.
If I thought I could get away with it, I’d drag her onto my lap and stake my claim — that’s how wolves rolled — but Wren and I weren’t at that level yet. She’d probably slap me.
Fire & Gasoline: A Shifter Romance (Audax Pack Book 1) Page 15
