Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Book 1)

by Christine M. Butler

  We were sitting upstairs looking out over the crowd. Normally, I preferred the outdoor tables that made me feel less caged in, but tonight I’d come inside because that’s where Garrett was hanging out with Hank and Granger. Hank usually set us up in the loft area so people couldn’t overhear any pack business we might discuss. Since there was a band coming in tonight we’d probably keep our asses parked right where they were.

  The folding metal chairs downstairs were filling up fast, and most of the ones around the bar had asses planted in seats. That meant whatever band was playing tonight would be a big pull. I never paid much attention to the local music beyond listening when I was around to hear it play. Names of bands didn’t matter to me. They came, they went. Tonight, I hoped that the pull of a big band would bring her out.

  Two hours later, the band was just kicking into their second song of the night, I felt the now familiar tug on my insides. My eyes immediately snapped to the door, and I was lost. Golden blond hair, big blue eyes, and a body that wouldn’t quit walked in. My eyes were only for her, and I bristled as I realized I wasn’t the only one with that thought on his mind. She wasn’t in the door two steps when one of the locals was all up on her trying to pull her to the dance floor for a two-step.

  A deep, reverberating growl slipped from my throat, and Garrett pulled me back down into the seat I hadn’t even realized I’d vacated. “Man, I know you got the instinct kicking in, but if you go all caveman, wolfy, bat-shit on that girl right now you will damage more than you already have.” He was the voice of reason I needed, and I was suddenly thankful Garrett was always there to have my back.

  “I’m not going to be able to deal with that kind of shit all night,” I admitted.

  “Then let’s get out of here,” he stated as he stood and tossed out some money on our makeshift table.

  “I can’t leave either.” I also admitted as I watched Izzy give the dude the brush off he deserved. I was staring, and I didn’t care who noticed. Hell, we were on the upper floor in the loft area, not many people would even look up let alone notice who I was staring at from the recesses of the dark balcony, but she must have felt the pull too, because she looked up, right into my eyes. The breath left my lungs in a quick shot as if I’d been punched good and hard in the dead center of my chest. I needed to find a way to make shit right, and get my girl. It had been three damn years of hopelessness since I first scented her, and now she was here, and untouchable because of my fuck up.

  “Hey man, you need to get your shit together.” Garrett hissed at me as he put a heavy damn hand down on my shoulder. It was then that I noticed my body was vibrating in that electric hum that usually preceded a shift. “Holy fuck, man, I’ve never seen you lose it like that. I think maybe it would be better if we left for the night.”

  “I honestly don’t think I can do that, Gare.” She still held my eyes, I still held hers. Neither of us had looked away yet. That wasn’t going to last long. Lana noticed her niece’s stare and glanced up in our direction. Her happy laughter drifted off and morphed into a hideous scowl as she saw what, or rather who, her niece was staring at.

  “No!” She hissed at her niece and yanked on her arm. “I can’t believe he’s here tonight, of all nights.”

  “Who?” Izzy was trying to play it off as she let Lana move her over to the last empty table in the house.

  “That big hunk of man-meat you were just eye-fucking is Dre.” Of course, Izzy already knew this, and she blanched at her aunt’s term.

  “Lana,” she whispered as she turned her full attention on her aunt. “How about we just leave?”

  “How about we just have fun, and rub it in his sorry-ass face.”

  “Are you ever going to tell me what happened with him?”

  “He was into someone else, and just using me until she was available. Is that good enough, because I really don’t feel like rehashing this shit right now, especially in a place where he can see us.” Her angry clipped tone settled like a weight on Izzy’s shoulders. She looked up at me once again, probably not meaning to, but I could see the look in her eyes. She was trying to figure out why I would be hitting on her earlier if there was someone else keeping her from Lana.

  “Yeah, honey, whatever you need,” she agreed. Neither of them knew I could hear them plain as day. Garrett and Granger could too. They both gave me a quick sympathetic glance.

  “Damn, man. That shit is screwed seven ways from Sunday.”

  “Yeah, don’t I know it,” I huffed back to Granger.

  “Maybe so guys, but I sure didn’t miss the way Izzy just watched you, and the way she’s fighting glancing back up here. It might take a while, but the instinct is there in her too.” Garrett had a point, and it was one that gave me a modicum of hope.

  “Better hope that shit outweighs her family loyalties.” And Granger smacked that hope down to dust with one comment. I knew from my very nasty end with Lana that Izzy had some pretty strong feelings on the topic thanks to being a twin who was used to guys trying to come between her and her sister.

  I watched as the girls ordered drinks. I even sat quietly through various men approaching their table and for the most part getting shot down. It wasn’t until one very persistent guy in particular wouldn’t leave their table that I started to lose my cool again.

  “That guy either better hit the other side of the table with Lana or get lost real soon.” My hands were shaking already as I spoke.

  “Maybe it’s time to kick operation distract Lana into full gear,” Garrett mumbled to Granger. “Why don’t we call up Gage?”

  Garrett and Granger were brothers, and Gage was their cousin. They were all part of our pack, and I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with any of them getting involved with Izzy’s family. Not that I wanted Lana, or felt the right to claim any past connection, just that I was afraid our secret would leak out faster than it should if the pack started meddling. On the other hand, as I watched the man - who had a death wish - scoot closer to Izzy I had to agree that desperate times did indeed call for desperate measures.

  “Yeah, call him up, and tell him Lana needs to go for a ride on the wild side tonight.” I thought about what I would do once Lana was preoccupied, and my damn mind went blank. Well, for the most part. I did realize one very important thing, Gage couldn’t talk to us first. “Make sure Gage stays down on the floor. If he comes up to talk to us Lana won’t have anything to do with him.”

  “It’s not like she doesn’t know we’re kin,” Granger stated plainly.

  “Yeah, but if he looks like he’s here for a good time, and not to run interference, it will go over a lot easier. Lana’s a smart cookie. If he talks to me, or any of us, first she won’t have a damn thing to do with him. If he goes to her first she’ll use him to get her digs in. You heard her. She wants to hurt me.”

  “If only she knew how much it hurt that you couldn’t get to her niece,” Garrett added softly.

  “Yeah, she kind of does. Why do you think she’s so damn pissed?”

  I glanced over just in time to catch a cell phone aimed in my direction. I turned my attention back to the two women who were so easily distracting me from everything else I should have been concerned with.

  “What the hell, Izzy?” Lana complained to her niece when she noticed what she’d just done.

  “Liz will be here in a couple weeks. I’m giving her the heads up you never gave me. How the hell else are we supposed to make sure we’re not all treading over each others’ past mistakes?” She giggled as she said it and I watched as her fingers flew over her phone. Apparently, she was texting my picture to her sister. Fan-freaking-tastic.

  Garrett and Granger were both laughing, having realized what caught my attention. “Those girls are dangerous. Note to self, do not mess around with any of them until I get to see the other sister.”

  “Note to all you fuckers, Izzy is off limits. Period.” My growled out command brokered no argument. I didn’t need to put the weight of my Alpha bond be
hind the words, but it slipped out as such anyway.

  “Damn, dude, we know what’s up,” Granger huffed out as the power in my words crackled over his skin. His gaze darted to the something or someone at the front door. “Calvary is here. Get ready for whatever it was you had planned. Operation distract Lana is a go.”

  ~*~IZZY~*~

  I never, in a million years, would have thought this lazy little mountain town would be crawling with so many gorgeous, muscular, out of this world sexy guys. That is until I saw yet another one stalking our way. Yes, stalking, because there was no other word for the way he approached our table. He was all hot sex and promise on two legs. I stopped short of fanning myself as I noted the twinkle in Lana’s eye. This was her town, and she was the one getting over a broken heart. I would not even begin to interfere with that.

  “Here comes trouble,” Lana spoke low, meaning for her voice only to carry as far as my ears. “Gage,” she offered in a louder, huskier, sexier voice.

  “Ladies,” he stated in a smooth southern draw. His eyes were only for Lana even after acknowledging the fact that there was more than one woman at the table. That definitely made Lana happy, and oddly enough, I was used to guys ignoring me for the other woman at the table. I experienced it often when I went out with my sister. Sure, we were twins and identical twins at that, but I guess we gave off completely different vibes. I didn’t put out the “I’m available” vibe that she so often did. It was the same vibe that Lana was throwing out there.

  “Lookin’ mighty fine tonight, Ms. Lana.”

  “Thank you, Gage.” I noted that Lana’s southern accent was suddenly a little more pronounced to match what Gage was throwing out. I hid my snicker behind the glass of beer I had been nursing since we first sat down. “This is my Niece, Izzy.” Lana pointed in my direction.

  Gage glanced at me and said a quick, “hi.” He almost did a double take, but then seemed to shake it off before focusing all his attention back on Lana. “You wanna dance, darlin’?”

  Lana smiled up at him sweetly. She looked like she was barely containing her excitement at the proposition. Odd that she had a broken heart moments ago, but now was ready to jump at it with this new guy. ‘Must not have been true love after all,’ I thought to myself. Gage held his hand out, and Lana put hers inside it. She did at least manage to glance back at me quickly, “you okay here?”

  I laughed. “I’m not five. Go, have fun. I’m gonna finish my beer and people watch for a bit. You mountain folk are very entertaining.”

  Lana rolled her eyes. Gage glared at me momentarily before leading Lana off to the dance floor. They weren’t gone too long before the guy who kept attaching himself to our table showed up again. His name had been Ryan, and I only learned it so I could get his attention off my boobs long enough to tell him to go away.

  He held his hand out, much in the same way Gage had just done with Lana, and called out to me, “ready for that dance yet?”

  “Nope,” I emphasized my response with a pop of the p in that word. “I’m good.” I took another sip of my beer while I watched him frown from over the rim of my now less than frosty glass. His eyes narrowed on me a bit causing me to quirk up my brow in question. One thing that pissed me off more than anything was a guy who did not seem to have a healthy respect for a woman who told him no.

  “Lana’s busy. You don’t have to worry about leaving her behind anymore because she already took off on you.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that I declined your offer because I didn’t want to dance with you? It has nothing to do with Lana or anyone else in this place. I’m not feeling it. End of story.”

  He took the seat next to me again, uninvited, and leaned in close. “I think if you’d give me a chance you would see that I am more than worth it. Unlike most of these schmucks, I have a good job, money, and position.”

  “Unlike most of these girls, I don’t care. I’m just visiting here, and I’m certainly not looking for a relationship, a date, hook-up, or anything else, Ryan. You’re barking up the wrong tree. I’d really hate to see you wasting your time, which is why I have so politely denied your requests tonight.”

  “Why don’t you stop worrying that pretty little head of yours and let me decide what is and is not a waste of my time.”

  I blew out a sharp breath. Not only was he an arrogant prick, he was a chauvinistic bastard too. I had zero tolerance for those types. Zero.

  “Can I get you another beer, hon?” The waitress just saved this jackass my scathing response. I nodded to the woman, but Ryan caught her arm. “Bring us a couple tequila shots too, Sally.”

  Sally, being the good waitress she was looked my way first, “none for me, just the beer,” I informed her. She nodded.

  “No way, bring the shots, the lime, and the salt Sally. Izzy is taking a shot with me since she won’t dance with me.”

  “Ryan, if you’re bothering this woman, I will have security put your ass out.” Sally huffed at him.

  I sat, uncomfortably, as I watched the exchange. Apparently, Ryan was no stranger to coming on too strong with people. “Just get the damn shots, Sally.” I said nothing, but Sally glanced at me again. I just shrugged my shoulders to let her know I was indifferent.

  “I don’t care what he orders, I just want my beer, and I’ll be paying for that myself.” Sally smiled sweetly at me then and nodded her head before heading off toward the bar.

  “So, you can’t even do a shot with me?” His indignation rolled off his tongue with each word.

  “Listen hard, Ryan, I don’t like this approach you’re trying with me. It won’t win you my affection, a night with me, a decent conversation, and definitely none of my respect. I’m not interested, and the longer you sit here pushing me, the less interested I become.”

  “The bitch gene must run in your fam…ahhh…” His last word shifted into a pained shout as he was lifted off the chair and into the air by a pair of ridiculously strong arms.

  “I do believe the lady said she wasn’t interested.” Oh no, I knew that voice, even if his face was obscured by Ryan’s big head and shoulders as he hung in the air in front of Dre.

  My phone dinged an incoming text just as Dre turned to escort Ryan away from me. I looked down to see the text was from my sister, but I tucked the phone away for now without reading it, because I was more interested in seeing what was about to happen with Ryan and Dre.

  “You fucking animal!” Ryan shouted. “Put me down, Andre.” His feet were kicking out, comically, at Dre’s shins.

  “I’m not even giving you a chance to apologize, because we all know that shit won’t be sincere. I swear to you though, if I catch you around that woman, or being a general asshat to any other woman on these premises, I promise you’re going to have a very bad day.”

  Dre was moving away, toward the door, carrying a full-grown man like he weighed nothing. My jaw dropped a little bit, in awe of the feat. Before I knew it, Dre was tossing Ryan out the front door, and Sally was back with my beer and a couple shots of tequila.

  “If you want them, the shots are on the house now. Thank God, Dre stepped in. I hate that asshole. I keep on Hank to ban his ass from here. Maybe now he’ll listen.”

  “I take it his winning personality wasn’t a special occasion with me then?” I laughed out in humor that was just there to cover my own unease.

  “Not hardly, he’s a menace when it comes to women, especially new ones who don’t know he’s an asshole right off the bat.” She laughed with me as she sat the drinks down. “I would have thought Lana would have warned you about him since he sat with y’all earlier.”

  “Nah, the only person she warned me away from was the guy who carried him out of here.”

  “Really?” Sally asked, her surprise evident. “Well, I guess I can see that. I’ve seen them leave here together a few times.”

  That was odd. “Well, yeah, because they were dating, and it didn’t end well.” I offered up my aunt’s reasoning.

  “S
weetheart, no one was dating that stud of a man. Not that they didn’t all fancy themselves dating him, but he’s not the settle down type. At least, he’s never found the one to tame him anyway. I thought maybe a few years ago, but apparently that girl slipped through his fingers before anything ever really got started.”

  “Hmm,” I offered noncommittally. “Well, Lana assumed they were together anyway, and that’s enough for me. She had him in her bed. That makes him off limits no matter what the relationship status was.”

  “Girl, I hear you on that count. Family first.” I nodded in response to her comment just as Lana came strolling up with Gage’s hand clasped in her own. “Although, it looks like she moved on from that.” Sally winked at me as she walked away.

  “Sweet, you ordered shots!” Lana snatched up one of the two tequila shots and reached for the salt. “Let’s do this!”

  I held up my fresh beer. “I didn’t order shots, but since they’re on the house feel free to help yourself.” Lana looked around for anyone else who could have possibly ordered them, and then turned a confused stare back on me.

  I huffed out a sigh. “Ryan ordered them before he got his ass escorted out for harassing me.” I left out the part about who did the escorting. I did notice Gage eyeballing me with a smirk. He knew. It also didn’t escape my notice that Dre made his way back inside, but didn’t bother to come back to my table to say anything. Instead he sauntered his muscle-bound body right back up to the loft level with his buddies. Gage noted where my attention was directed, and whether on purpose or accident, he distracted Lana by offering to help her take her shot. He leaned in close to her and simply said, “lick.”

  And boy did she ever. Her tongue snaked out and right up his neck, where she promptly pulled the saltshaker out and added salt to the skin of his outstretched neck. Once she had her shot up and ready she licked him again, taking a pull of the salt she’d just stuck there, she slammed her shot back, and while all that was going on Gage had tucked the lime wedge inside his mouth and had it ready as an offer to her when she finished slamming that shot back. Lana didn’t hesitate, and instead leaned in to suck the lime out of his mouth. I watched, completely engrossed in the spectacle they were creating. I only turned away when I saw the lime wedge drop away while their mouths stayed connected to one another.