by Codi Gary
“Bye.”
Xander ended the call and set his phone down on the counter. If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t expect to make it out of the show down with Dakota and Pax, but he was damn sure going to at least take Pax with him. Clyde wasn’t wrong about them not playing well with others, and judging by the way she’d reacted when he’d warned her about Pax, Dakota’s devotion couldn’t be shaken. It was sad that she was completely under the sociopath’s spell or else she might have gone down another path.
Xander poured himself a glass of whiskey and sat on his couch, closing his eyes and going back to that morning. His parents had been planning the scenting ceremony for months, inviting females for their three sons. He’d gone out with his friends as a last hurrah in case he met someone. As the youngest at twenty-three, he hadn’t felt ready for it, but was willing to try at least to make his mother happy.
He could still remember coming home, high on life after a long weekend with his boys. He’d walked through the door, the smile still on his face when the blast of death had washed over him. His duffle bag had fallen from his shoulder to the floor as he rushed forward, the smell of blood and decaying bodies choking him.
He found his father first, although he hadn’t recognized him. His face had been completely bashed in. His two older brothers were lying halfway down the stairs, practically on top of each other. It looked as though they had been shot a hundred times until their insides were just mush. They each had their own apartment, and Xander remembered wondering what they were doing there, thinking that it must have gotten late so they just stayed over.
After that, Xander had screamed his mother’s name as he’d leaped up the stairs.
When he’d seen what they had done to her, he’d lost the contents of his stomach all over the floor.
They’d taken all of the jewelry and electronics in the house, even ripped into the safe. A robbery gone wrong is what authorities had called it.
How could he express all of that pain and horror into words that Greer would be able to understand? The sheer hate he carried in his heart for those responsible wouldn’t diminish by talking about it. An eye for an eye.
It was his right to take his revenge.
He heard a cry and rushed upstairs, abandoning his whiskey. He stood outside Jill’s room, and all was quiet. Then he heard Greer’s gasping breaths.
He knocked on the door. “Greer? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Her choked reply ripped his heart out and he turned the knob. “I’m coming in.”
She didn’t tell him to stop, so he pushed the door all the way open. As the hallway light streaked in, he saw the tears on Greer’s cheeks and closed it behind him.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, it was just a dream.”
He sat on the side of the bed, and started to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear but stopped. He dropped his hand, resting it on his thighs. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She snorted in the dark. “Why would I share something personal with you when you can’t do the same?”
“Talking about my family’s murder is not the same as a nightmare.”
Her sigh was deep and heavy. “I know. I’m sorry for being a bitch. I just…I might be able to understand better than you think. I lost my parents three years ago in a car crash. They hit a patch of black ice, and flipped over and over down the mountain. Some people who lived in a house at the bottom heard it and called for help, but they didn’t even make it to the hospital. I was angry at everyone, even the paramedics who tried to save them for a long time.”
He laid his hand over the blanket, resting it on her knee. “I am sorry about your parents. You weren’t with them?”
“No.”
“That’s why talking about my family’s death is different. I walked in a few hours after my parents were butchered. I saw their bodies. It’s hard to think about, worse to talk about. I have to live with the images in my head for the rest of my life, but there is no reason you should too.”
Greer scooted closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. “The fact that I want to know you is reason enough. There is something here, Xander, whether you want to admit it or not. I’m scared to death of everything that’s happened, but I’m here, willing to overcome it for you. Can’t you do the same?”
Chapter Thirteen
Greer had never left herself so exposed to anyone and the fact that he hadn’t said or done anything spoke volumes. She had lost her damn mind, opening her heart to a man, a werewolf whom she’d only known for five days. It was sheer madness.
She leaned back, dropping her hand from his shoulder, but with lightning speed, he grabbed it. He held it to his chest, and she flattened her fingers against the muscular wall, her gaze slowly traveling up to meet his.
“I want you here. I have since the first moment I laid eyes on you. But if something happened to you—
She covered his mouth with her other hand. “You already promised to keep me safe. So, unless you were lying through your teeth, you don’t need to worry about losing me.”
Xander pressed a hot, hard kiss in the center of her hand. Her nipples tightened as tingles rushed up her arm, and shot through the rest of her body. His lips traveled up her wrist along her forearm. When they reached the inside of her elbow, she giggled.
He lifted his head with a grin. “That tickled?”
“A little.”
Xander leaned over until his mouth pressed against the side of her neck. She trembled under his caress and he whispered along her skin. “How about this?”
“No.”
His tongue traced up until he reached her ear. “Right here?”
She moaned as he sucked her lobe into his mouth. “Uh uh.”
When she thought she felt the brush of his teeth, she jerked away. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Bite me.”
She was afraid he’d be mad at her, but Xander took her hand in his instead. “I will never mark you without your permission.”
“Mark me?”
“When two people mate and one of them is human, the shifter will mark the other. It shows the pack that she belongs to him, and he to her.”
Slowly, she relaxed and laced her fingers with his. She tugged him to her as she lay back on his bed. He came over her, holding himself on his hands above her.
“Kiss me, Xander.”
She sensed his movement and when his mouth brushed hers, it was like being hit in every pleasure point she had. They pressed harder, his tongue slipping between her lips and she tangled her hands in his hair, cradling the back of his head. The kiss deepened as she opened her mouth, swirling her tongue with his. An ache built between her legs and she could feel her arousal dampen her panties, the only thing she had on beside the old t-shirt he’d given her.
He pushed his lower body against her and she struggled to get closer, to rub her center into him to ease the tension radiating there.
With a growl that vibrated her mouth, he lifted enough to reach between them and yank the blanket away. Only their clothes separated their skin now, and when Xander thrust against her, she spread her legs, wrapping them around him. He was still wearing his jeans and t-shirt, and the rough friction soaked the thin cotton covering her. She hadn’t dry humped a guy since high school, and she’d forgotten how freaking hot it was.
Xander broke their kiss, his mouth traveling down to her neck, his hot breath rushing over the shell of her ear. “Fuck, I want you so bad.”
God, she knew the feeling. After going almost a year without sex, she was ready to explode.
He rolled so he was on his side, propped on his elbow. His fingers played with the bottom of the t-shirt she was wearing, the tips skimming her stomach, silently asking permission to move underneath.
She reached down and pulled the shirt up and over her head. Greer had always been self-conscious about her body, especially her stomach which she
could never get completely flat no matter what she did.
But with Xander’s hand splayed across her abdomen, creeping up toward her breasts, and his rough voice whispering, “You’re so damn beautiful,” she wasn’t worried about her imperfections. All she wanted was to revel in Xander’s touch.
His palm covered her breast, squeezing it and her back came off the bed with a guttural moan. When her eyes fluttered open again, she could just make out his face in the pale moonlight pouring in from the window. His hungry expression tightened her core and she whimpered, needing his mouth once more. As he massaged her flesh, her arm came up around his neck and pulled him back down for a kiss.
His hand left her breast, but before she could protest, it was sliding inside her cotton briefs. Xander’s finger slid down between her lips, teasing her slit until he found her clit. With just one, short brush across, she gasped against his mouth. His finger circled her, rubbing the tight nub in fast, even strokes and she dug her nails into his shoulders, hanging on as her body jerked and spasmed. The warm rush of release flowed through her, shaking her to her core and she broke the kiss with a wild cry, lost in a euphoria of pleasure.
He kissed along her jaw line and neck as she came down. “God, I could listen to you come all day.”
She laughed breathlessly, her fingers rubbing his shoulders where her nails had dug in. When he lifted his gaze to look at her, she stilled. His eyes had brightened, and as he stared at her, so intensely, she was reminded of the wolf inside him.
She shivered, but when he looked away, she cupped his chin. “Don’t. I’m not afraid.”
“Liar. I can smell your fear. I could hear your heart rate pick up when I looked at you.”
“I’m afraid of your power. I’m afraid of your wolf. Of what I don’t understand. But I don’t fear you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Xander didn’t know how to take Greer’s admission, especially when his wolf was riding so close to the surface. He’d sensed her fear, the moment of horror.
How was this ever going to work if she couldn’t see that the wolf was just a part of him, but it was nothing to fear?
A scream of pain erupted from across the hall and Xander leaped up from the bed, racing to Jill’s room. As soon as he threw open the door and saw her down on all fours, he knew she was shifting. Her shirt ripped as her bones contorted. Tawny hair sprouted up through her skin. As her face became fuller, rounder, he met her aquamarine eyes and the terror inside them.
“It will be fine, Jill, just relax. Let it happen.”
She screamed again, the sound blending into a cougar’s cry.
By the time Greer had gotten her shirt back on and joined them, it was over. Jill stood on all fours with her long tail swishing behind her, her clothes in a ragged pile around her.
Xander watched her as she covered her mouth, her brown eyes wide as she stared at her best friend. Xander almost thought she would run out of the room but she surprised him. She took one step, then two until she kneeled down in from of Jill.
“I am so sorry,” she choked.
Xander stood back as Jill wrapped an arm around Greer, her paw resting on the opposite shoulder. Jill nuzzled her short face into the crook of Greer’s neck and the two of them sat there, motionless except for the rise and fall of Greer’s shoulders with each silent sob.
Xander felt as though he was intruding, especially when Greer pulled away and cupped Jill’s face between her hands.
“I love you. No matter what.” She kissed the end of Jill’s nose with a wet laugh. “Besides, I kind of like this look. Brings new meaning to the term cat in heat.”
Jill released a scream, and suddenly, she was shifting again. Greer stumbled back and Xander bent over to help her to her feet. When Jill finally stopped, she was huddled on her side in the fetal position, naked.
Greer rushed forward and yanked the quilt off the bed, spreading it over Jill.
“I’ll get you some water,” Xander said. “I always need a tall glass after I shift.”
He left the two women alone and stopped off in his room to grab another shirt and a pair of sweats for Jill. By the time he came back with the water and the clothes, the two of them were on the bed. Jill’s head rested in Greer’s lap as she stroked her hair, humming a tune he couldn’t place.
He set the clothes on the edge of the bed and held out the glass. “You can put these on, if you want.”
“I hurt everywhere. I don’t even want to move.”
Jill took the glass from him and he tried to be reassuring. “It gets better. Pretty soon, you just have to think about it and you’ll change.”
“I never want to do that again.”
“I can demonstrate, but then I’d have to get naked.”
Jill made a weak howling noise.
“You’re not getting naked,” Greer said sternly.
Xander quirked an eyebrow at her and pulled his t-shirt over his head. “One thing you’re going to have to learn about shifters, baby, is we are not a modest breed.”
Greer tried to get up and stop him, but Jill wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her there. He had been hoping some teasing would make her feel better, but Greer’s almost possessive reaction to him undressing was delicious.
By the time he’d dropped his drawers, Greer was covering Jill’s eyes, bent over with laughter.
Jill kept grabbing Greer’s hands, and yanking them away. “Come on, I was assaulted and turned into a were-cougar! The least you can do is let me ogle him.”
Greer’s face turned tomato red and he took the opportunity to slide smoothly into his wolf form. Jill sat up when Greer climbed off the bed. She took a hesitant step in his direction, holding her hand out to him.
He jumped up on her, his paws hanging over her shoulders and ran his big thick tongue over her cheek.
She burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, you can stop now.” She ran her hand over his dense coat and he leaned into her caress.
“You do make that look easy,” Jill said.
Xander dropped back and shifted once more, standing with his back to them as he got dressed again.
“Good butt,” Jill whispered.
Xander heard a loud smack, followed by Jill’s outraged, “Geez, I was just saying.”
He didn’t think she’d meant for him to hear what she said next, she’d probably mouthed it, but he’d heard it loud and clear.
“Mine.”
Xander was surprised by how much he liked the sound of that.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, Greer stood at the window with a cup of coffee in her hand, watching Xander try to teach Jill how to spar. It was Saturday and Greer didn’t have any jobs lined up that day. It was the nice thing about owning her own business. When her friend had an emergency, like being turned into a were-cougar and needed her emotional support, she could be there for her.
Xander had mentioned he had some friends driving up today to help ease Jill through her transition, but until they got there, Xander had insisted on showing Jill a few things. Greer would have been jealous of the attention he was giving Jill, if he didn’t continuously catch Greer’s eye and smile, his eyes electric with desire.
Greer had stayed with Jill until her friend had fallen back asleep and then snuck into the spare room to find Xander snoring. She crawled in next to him, dead tired, and laid onto her side with her back to him. As she was dozing off, she felt him turn and then his arm was wrapped around her waist, his erection poking into her butt.
“You’re right, you know,” he’d said.
“About what?”
He kissed the back of her ear, and whispered, “I was yours from the minute I saw you.”
Greer had started, shocked he’d heard her stake her claim to Jill. She didn’t say anything and he hadn’t tried for more than spooning her. Soon, his even breathing had fanned out across her skin. She’d fallen asleep smiling.
But when she’d woken up, he was gone. She’d come downstairs t
o find a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the two of them doing some kind of stretching exercises in the early morning light.
She’d yawned and gone for the nectar of life instead of the workout.
Finally, the two of them came inside, Jill dancing from foot to foot. “I gotta tell you, I feel completely energized. Is this how it is, you just feel like you’re on a five-hour energy high all the time.”
“Sometimes.” Xander came up alongside Greer and bent over to kiss her. She leaned into his mouth, tingles erupting everywhere. When he finally pulled back, he murmured, “Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Hey G,” Jill said, kissing her cheek next.
“Well, you seem better.”
“I really am. I just decided that I am going to embrace this as a new leg in my always exciting life.”
Greer grinned at Xander over her coffee mug. “That’s a good way to look at it.”
Xander poured a cup of coffee, and then turned back around to face them. “I was thinking I should escort you ladies home to pack a bag and then we can come back before everyone gets here.”
“Pack a bag?” Greer said.
Xander took a long draw of his coffee, quirking one eyebrow at her. “Yeah. I’m not leaving you alone with Pax and Dakota still out there.”
“How many people are coming?” she asked.
“If it’s Clyde and his sons, four. If his wife and daughters are coming, then it’s seven.”
Greer set her coffee cup down, waiting for him to catch up. “And where are we all going to sleep? There are only three rooms and a couch.”
Xander frowned at her. “You make a point there, but I’m still not having you stay alone.”
She shrugged. “Then come over to my place.”
Jill waved her hand at them. “Um, excuse me? I know you’re not planning on leaving me here with a house full of strangers.”
“Relax, the only danger you’ll get from Clyde and his wife, Norma, is that they might try to mate you with one of their sons,” Xander said.
“Mate me? Nobody is mating me!”
