Instead, I angled myself to lean slightly more towards her, making us look more like a couple. I’m sure Wren noticed my territorial move, but she didn’t call me out on it.
“Sorry, Derek,” Wren said, shooting him an apologetic smile that I was confident I’d never see directed at me. “I was visiting my grandparents up north.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know you had family out there.”
Why would he know? Who the fuck was this guy?
“Hi, I’m Derek,” he said, reaching his hand toward me to shake, his eyes dropping to my chest and his brow furrowed in confusion. I took it, squeezing a little harder than strictly necessary if his slight wince gave any sign.
“Archer,” I replied lazily. Wren subtly rolled her eyes at me.
“How do you know Wren?” Derek asked, stepping back and flexing his fingers. I fought the grin that was threatening to spread over my face.
“Wren’s my future wife. Isn’t that right, little bird?” I drawled, earning me a slap on the arm from the woman in question.
“What is wrong with you?” she hissed.
“Many things.” I shrugged.
“Oh. Well, this is a little awkward. I was kind of hoping to date her,” Derek said with a laugh. I could smell his nerves. It made the predator in me rise to the surface.
Derek was too focused on me to notice the critical error he’d made with Wren. Twice now he’d talked about her like she wasn’t here. If we were fully bonded and I could sense her wolf, I’m sure I’d be able to feel how pissed off she was at being dismissed right now.
“It is awkward,” I agreed, leaning back in my chair and loosely crossing my arms like I didn’t have a care in the world. “So, little bird, what’s the plan? You don’t strike me as the type to lead some guy on when there’s no future in it.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead in my seat. I knew my assessment was dead on though. It would go against every instinct in Wren to deceive someone. She was an impetuous ballbuster, but she wasn’t a manipulator. I got the feeling she didn’t enjoy the loose pack of humans she’d collected.
Wren turned back to Derek, and I tried to tamp down the jealousy crawling over my skin at the kindness in her expression.
“I’m sorry, Derek. You’re a really nice guy—”
Derek’s pained whine cut her off mid-sentence, and I bit back a smile at the wolfy sound. It was the sound of a wolf whose Luna had just rejected his affection.
“Oh, uh, that’s cool. If you ever need anything, Wren, you can call me. I’ll always be here for you.” He backed up a few steps, shooting a lingering glance at my mate — future mate — as he left. He’d come around now that I’d established my dominance and let him know he had no chance. Next time I saw him, he’d probably be as deferential to me as he was to her.
“Happy now?” Wren asked, glaring daggers at me.
“I’d be happier if you’d never met him,” I told her unapologetically.
She barked a laugh full of mirth. “Nothing even happened with him, but I suppose you’ve been saving yourself for me all this time, hm? I can smell the arousal on the women in here. Were you sowing your wild oats with them these past few months while you pretended I didn’t exist?” She scoffed at my silence and pushed away from the table, taking our empty plates with her before I could respond.
I hadn’t been with another woman since I’d caught Wren’s scent. I hadn’t even contemplated it. It made it worse in a way — I’d put off pursuing my fated mate because I liked the idea of being with multiple women instead of being tied down to the one who was perfect for me.
Mine.
She was right to punish me — I hadn’t earned her forgiveness yet, let alone her respect. We hadn’t properly shifted together either. Only the Fates knew how her wolf would respond to mine right now. She’d probably take a chunk out of his flank.
If we were going to do this, I needed to show that Wren was the only woman for me. It would be uncomfortable for both of us, but I was going to take her into the viper’s nest and tackle the problem wolf-style.
Wren was behind the counter, slamming cups down a little harder than necessary when I approached.
“I need to go call my brother,” I began. She ignored me completely, which made my wolf crazy. She couldn’t dismiss me like I was someone insignificant to her. I wouldn’t accept that.
I leaned across the counter, getting right up in her personal space. Wren’s eyes snapped to mine, and she bared her teeth slightly, her eyes glowing slightly as her wolf stirred.
“There’s been no one since I caught your scent, little bird. You’re the only woman I’m interested in, but you will never believe me until you see that for yourself,” I said in a low voice, keeping my expression calm and serious so she knew I wasn’t playing games with her.
“Well, you have your work cut out for you then,” Wren replied, rolling her eyes and busying herself wrapping cutlery in napkins, dismissing me again.
“You have a late start tomorrow. I’ll meet you at your place and walk you to work,” I called over my shoulder as I left the coffee shop.
The shattering of a cup as it slammed onto the counter was the last thing I heard as I exited the coffee shop.
Chapter 14
Wren
I slept terribly. My wolf was annoyed at Archer, but pined for him at the same time. I’d always felt vulnerable being alone at night, without a pack to defend me, but that feeling had been infinitely worse since I’d met Archer and looked into his eyes. I felt exposed on my own, like the shield I was supposed to have was missing.
It was incredibly aggravating. I’d been managing okay on my own before he came along. He’d appeared in my life because it suited him to do so, and I was the one suffering for it.
With the coffee shop opening later and closing earlier during winter break, I felt like I had an abundance of time on my hands. I’d cleaned the house, baked cinnamon scrolls, and French-braided my hair all by eight o’clock in the morning. I was lounging on the couch, watching breakfast television when my phone started vibrating next to me.
Incoming call: George and Eloise Calvin
When I’d given my grandparents my number, I didn’t expect them to call me so soon. That they shared a cell phone was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t have many examples of love to go on, but I’m pretty sure their relationship was something special.
"Hello?"
"Wren?" George's voice on the end of the line took me by surprise. Even knowing they shared the phone, I expected Eloise to be the one to call me.
"Hi George, how are you?"
"Fine, fine. Tobias was in town yesterday and picked up the scent of some foreign wolves around the motel room you stayed in."
"They could be Audax Pack wolves, right?" I asked uneasily.
"I've already talked to Archer, none of his pack have been in the area except he and Miles." I rolled my eyes. Of course, he'd already talked to Archer. Did they swap numbers too? Archer had done a fantastic job in winning over my grandparents. Traitors.
Apprehension skittered down my spine. “You think someone was following me?”
“I’m not ruling it out,” George replied sternly, Alpha voice firmly in play. “Does your old pack keep tabs on you? They might have been trying to figure out if you’d joined the Fortis Pack.”
“They haven’t in the past, but they want me for some arranged mating with a pack in Ohio,” I muttered, feeling weirdly embarrassed talking about it. Now I knew how other packs operated, the cultiness of Azymus Pack was impossible to ignore.
George growled down the phone. “Have you mentioned that to Archer? He won’t tolerate anyone sniffing around his mate.”
“I’m not his mate,” I retorted, cringing at how bitter I sounded about that.
“Semantics,” George replied dismissively. “Take care, Wren. Fortis Pack will come to your aid, should you need it.”
“Against your own daughter?” I challenged.
<
br /> “Yes,” George sighed. “Maybe if I’d fought a little harder for her, she wouldn’t have resorted to the path she’s trying to force on you.”
I’d barely had a moment to process that when I heard Archer’s approach. I shoved my feet into my boots and pulled on my pretty quilted jacket, before opening the front door to find six-and-a-half feet of towering masculinity leaning casually against the porch railing.
“What’s this?” I asked Archer, suspiciously eyeing the reusable coffee cup he was handing me as I pulled the door shut behind me.
“She asks as if she doesn’t have shifter senses. Sniff.” He rolled his eyes as a small smile tugged at his lips. Asshole. I apprehensively accepted the cup, ignoring the buzz where our skin touched.
I already knew it was a coffee — a burned-to-shit espresso, to be precise — but that wasn’t really what I’d been asking. It had just seemed politer than asking why he was handing me a butchered cup of coffee.
Keeping my face carefully neutral, I took a sip and swallowed my grimace along with the un-frothed milk and burned coffee.
“You like fancy coffee, so I got one of those stovetop coffee pot things and followed a video tutorial,” Archer explained with an offhand shrug, though I could tell by his guarded expression that he didn’t feel quite as cool as he was acting. He’d obviously gone to a lot of effort to make this abomination, and I wasn’t heartless enough to shit all over his effort.
“That’s so sweet of you,” I commented lightly.
Archer scoffed. “I’m not sweet.” Before I agreed — because he was absolutely right — he’d snatched the cup out of my hand, whipped the lid off and tipped the coffee out on the grass. “Come on, I’ll buy you a decent one. You don’t start work for half an hour yet.”
“I’m aware of that, thank you,” I replied drily. “I hear you had a chat with my grandfather this morning?” I fell into step next to him as we walked towards the campus, keeping enough distance between us that our arms didn’t brush against each other as we walked.
He hummed in agreement. “Anything you want to tell me, little bird? Because I’m fairly confident whoever was sniffing around that motel wasn’t there for me or Miles.”
“I don’t particularly want to tell you anything, but you’ll probably be a pain in the ass about it until I do. The Alpha of my old pack wants me to go back.” I shrugged.
“You left your pack on your own accord then?” Archer asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
“You think I was exiled?”
“No,” he answered quickly. “I’m just trying to understand, little bird. Usually dominant wolves benefit most from pack life, it’s weird that your experience was bad enough that you wanted to leave. Especially to go it on your own. The lone wolf lifestyle is fucking agony.”
“Is it now?” I asked wryly, not needing him to explain my life to me. Archer gave me an almost sheepish look. “The Azymus Pack works a little differently to other packs, I’ve since learned. They have very strict ideas on how shifters should behave, how they answer to their Alpha, and who they are mated to. Nothing is left to chance.
“The Alpha was mated before I was born, his son was born years later and is far too young for me, therefore the pack had no use for me. I doubt I was the only dominant wolf exiled from the pack.”
“So, you were exiled?” Archer confirmed, surprised.
“They restricted me to my parents’ cabin from age twelve when my wolf emerged — my parents moved into the big pack house so they didn’t have to be around me — then kicked me off the territory at age eighteen.”
Archer’s growl was so steady, it sounded like someone had left a lawnmower running. The noise was all wolf, his animal outraged on my behalf. It was kind of cute.
“So you were, what, just locked in a house for six years on your own?” Archer growled. His wolf was right at the surface, I could almost feel his need to avenge rolling off him in waves.
“Well, locked in is an exaggeration, but I’d have had the full force of the pack on me if I’d tried to leave the house. My wolf was game, but she wouldn’t have been strong enough as a juvenile.”
“We’d totally be strong enough now,” Archer said with a bloodthirsty glint in his eye. My wolf was giving him puppy dog eyes, apparently smitten with his vengeful side.
“Considering they’re almost all submissive wolves, I’m sure we’d have no problem. I don’t want to punish the pack for the crimes of their Alpha, though.”
“So that’s a yes to punishing the Alpha?” he asked hopefully.
“Not in a rip-out-his-throat kind of way,” I laughed, the sound startling me. “I’d like to undermine his power, show the pack how weak and cowardly they really are. It’s a lot easier for submissives to leave a pack if they lose confidence in their Alpha.”
Archer nodded thoughtfully. “You don’t want to take over their pack.”
I said nothing, not willing to open that can of worms. I didn’t want to lead any pack, but Archer would relish the chance to talk me into it.
“Why does the Azymus Pack want you back now?”
“They want me to mate some future Alpha of a pack in Ohio, cement an alliance for them.”
“Not. Happening,” Archer said, his voice raspy as he tried to push his wolf back.
“Well, obviously not. Not because you said so,” I added, throwing him a dirty look. “I rejected the suggestion two years ago, but now he’s turned eighteen, my old Alpha, Mercer, has obviously decided to try again.”
By silent agreement, we sat next to each other on a park bench opposite the coffee shop. It was crazy to give him this much attention, yet it was the most at ease I’d felt since we’d sat next to each other at the Fortis Pack dinner. A few more minutes couldn’t hurt, right? I’d indulge just a little longer.
“I really hate that shit you use to cover your scent, you know,” Archer said conversationally, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “Your natural scent is fucking incredible. Like a drug that was designed just for me.”
I snorted. “Drugs. How romantic.”
“Why do you cover it up?” Archer asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.
“I’ve always been careful to live on unclaimed territory, but occasionally shifters felt threatened by my presence. Once I started covering my scent, I got some peace.”
“So, what, you just roll around in lavender every morning?” I laughed at his question, imagining Archer’s enormous frame rolling around in a lavender bush.
“Obviously not, I make a natural solution out of oils and spray it on myself.”
“You just came up with that shit?” he asked dubiously.
“No. I searched for ‘natural dog deodorant’ online,” I admitted, staring resolutely ahead. Archer’s boom of laughter was loud enough to grab everyone’s attention within a two-mile radius. I leaned across the bench and clapped my hand over his mouth, stifling my giggle.
Archer cocked a brow at me a split second before licking up the length of my hand with his tongue. He grinned as I snatched it back, glaring at him.
“That’s unhygienic,” I said primly, sliding back down the bench and crossing my legs, back ramrod straight.
“I’ll happily lick any part of you I can get my tongue on, little bird,” Archer chuckled. My face felt weirdly hot, and I studied my nails to give myself an excuse not to look at him.
“You should be so lucky,” I muttered.
“I should,” he agreed seriously, leaning back with his knees spread obnoxiously wide.
These were the glimpses of what could have been — the moments where I could see why he was perfect for me and all the ways we complemented each other. But his initial evasion of me, which he’d never apologized for, sat between us like a big, festering wound.
Archer’s charm and sense of humor made it worse in a way. I hated that he acted like he wanted this. Like he and I were inevitable. If that was true, why wouldn’t he have pursued me from the beginning?
I
wanted him to hurt — the way I was hurting — yet the idea of him suffering made my chest ache. I wanted him to feel even a quarter of the rejection that I’d felt, the sickly, slimy shame that crawled over my skin at knowing he hadn’t wanted me, but just the thought of his discomfort was unbearable to me. This tenuous bond between us made me protective over him, which was fucking infuriating since it was obviously one-sided.
“I’m going to work now,” I announced, standing and striding purposefully into the coffee shop before he could object. I needed some space to clear my head.
✽✽✽
Amazingly, Archer left me alone for my entire shift. I was grateful — it had been what I wanted after all — but by the end of the day I was antsy and my wolf was miserable.
I still made a show of rolling my eyes as I exited the coffee shop and was assaulted by Archer’s masculine sandalwood scent a second before the man in question strode up to me. I didn’t want him to think I was happy to see him.
“You know I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to and from work without an escort, right? I’ve managed just fine these past few months, as you probably saw for yourself.”
He winced slightly at that, and I almost felt bad about the dig. It’s not like I’d said anything that wasn’t true.
“I like walking with you.” Archer shrugged, pulling his ringing phone out of his pocket with a frown.
“Miles,” he clipped. “I can’t talk, I'm with Wren.” Okay, that was a bit cute. I hated him maybe one percent less now. “Pizza again?” he sighed. “I’ll grab some on the way back.”
“Neither of you cook?” I asked as he slid the phone back into his pocket.
“Ah, no. Not really. My mom used to organize the cooking for our pack with a handful of volunteers.”
“Used to?”
Archer glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, looking uncomfortable. “She doesn’t do it anymore. The pack members that used to help her still do it, but they aren’t great at it. Feeding people isn’t their passion like it was hers.”
My heart felt like it stuttered for a beat. Maybe the Fates really did have all of this planned out because there was no possible way that was a coincidence.
Fire & Gasoline: A Shifter Romance (Audax Pack Book 1) Page 16
