Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Book 1)

by Christine M. Butler

  “Sure thing,” her voice twanged out excitedly. I’m pretty sure Garrett and I had both gone there with the brunette at one time or another.

  I listened in as Izzy made her way back to the bar, and noticed her drink waiting on her. “I miss Liz.”

  “I know sweetie. You guys knew this was going to be hard. It’s the first time you’ve ever been separated.”

  “Yeah, I know. She’s just been a little distant lately.”

  “It’s only been a couple weeks. She’s probably got a revolving door of man-meat in and out of your apartment since she doesn’t have to worry about disturbing you with that shit while you’re here.” Lana was laughing like it was a joke, but Izzy’s response made me believe she wasn’t.

  “Well, that’s probably true. You would think, being twins, nature would have balanced us out a little more. Liz got all the good-time stuff, and I got all the serious study genes. I’m beginning to think that wasn’t very fair.”

  “You can always change that,” Lana offered before she took another sip of her drink.

  “Oh yeah? How am I going to do that? The no-tooth having, slightly smelly, beer-belly wearing redneck I hit on last week turned me down.” The pout was back, and this time I chuckled right along with Garrett’s boisterous laugh at Izzy’s description of the last idiot we’d seen her hit on. Honestly, neither of us could believe she went there at the time. Pete Buttress was literally a man of the mountains, and she had nearly thrown him into cardiac arrest when she turned on the charm with him in a shop last week. He saw me off in the corner shake my head, and the look on his face was one of a guy who just had his only puppy kicked, taken away, and told that ice cream was a fairytale. If Izzy thought Pete turning her down did bad things to her ego, she had no clue how he felt about having to do the turning down.

  “That was classic. I can’t wait until we can tell her all about this little venture one day. I’d really like to congratulate her for being able to be so damn charming, and sincere with Pete.” Garrett’s laughter had tears welling in the corner of his eyes.

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed that we get that chance.”

  The door to the pub opened then, and in walked Gage Davis. He made for an imposing figure. Unlike the rest of us, Gage wore his thick, dark hair cropped short to his scalp in a buzzed look that screamed military. His usually sapphire blue eyes almost appeared black in the low lights of the pub, giving him a fierce appearance as he marched down the length of the pub to the two blond women perched on their barstools.

  “This seat taken, darlin’?” He asked as he sauntered up behind Lana before she noticed.

  “Which seat would that be?” Lana inquired with a grin.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Gage looked down the nearly empty bar, taking in all the other empty seats before he swept Lana up into his arms and took her seat, placing her back down into his lap once he was comfortable.

  “I swear, Gage, you are nothing but a caveman!” The peels of laughter that followed the statement said she thoroughly enjoyed those caveman tendencies.

  “Zug, zug, baby!” Izzy’s laughter joined in then, and I was jealous of my pack-mate. He may have had Lana in his arms, not Izzy, but he was still close to my mate. Closer than she allowed me to get to her. That bothered me so much that I decided it was time to put an end to this freeze out from the little blonds.

  I waited for Garrett to drain his last drink before I tipped my head over to the bar. “Well, we better go get you a refill.”

  Garrett’s eyes widened, and then his devilish grin that got him in trouble with all the ladies kicked up into his full mega-watt smile. “Well, it’s about damn time, man.” He chugged the remainder of his drink and added, “and I’m feeling thirsty. Let’s go.”

  “Gage, my man!” Garrett bellowed out as soon as we sidled up to the bar. I didn’t go for the obvious position of standing behind or beside Izzy. Instead I let Garrett act as a natural buffer. He was standing directly in front of Lana and Gage with Izzy off to his right side. I took up a position on his left, behind Gage, and leaned over the bar to get the bartender’s attention.

  “Two Black and Tans,” I requested and then stepped back after tossing some cash up on the bar.

  “Garrett, Dre.” Gage tipped his head to us wondering why we’d approached if we needed him to play distraction again.

  “What are you guys getting into tonight?” I didn’t say a thing, just let Garrett lead the conversation as he usually did anyway.

  “Don’t know. Just got here, myself.” Gage answered him then lifted Lana a fraction of an inch up on his lap. “Found this one sitting on my favorite stool, and had to move her.” Gage laughed as Lana elbowed him.

  “You know you do not have a favorite stool in this place, Gage Davis,” Lana admonished.

  “Says who?”

  “Me, and everyone else who knows you don’t come here often enough to claim a favorite.”

  “Well, shows what you know. I have a favorite seat in every joint I ever go to, darlin’. They’re usually occupied by the hottest woman in the room.” He winked at Izzy then as she laughed at his audacity.

  “Oh, shut up, you man-whore!” Lana laughed then. That was a change. Both women laughed while in my presence. Maybe it was time to start making my move.

  “What’s shakin’ Dre?” Gage asked as he turned to get a better look at me. “You’re awful quiet tonight.”

  “Well, between you and Garrett, I was just trying to dig my way out from underneath all the ego.” Lana huffed at my response, and Izzy just stared at me. Gage chuckled, and Garrett played the part of offended best friend.

  As if reading my mind Garrett piped up, “I’m offended, man. As if you could dig out from under my ego!” He huffed out an indignant sigh. “I mean, I have an extremely healthy sense of self.”

  Izzy threw her head back to laugh at Garrett’s antics then. “Oh dear lord, my sister is going to be all over you when she gets out here.”

  “Likes a confident man, huh?” Garrett asked, perking up.

  “Yeah, she tends to fall for the jackasses,” Izzy laughed out and the rest of us couldn’t help but join her.

  “What about you?” Gage asked innocently.

  “Not sure what you mean,” Izzy stated then.

  “What type do you fall for? I haven’t seen you with anyone in particular since you’ve been here.” Gage knew we had warned away the other wolves, but he didn’t know we’d put a warning out with the humans in the area too. Izzy was off limits to anyone with male DNA.

  “Oh, um,” her cheeks blushed as she looked over at me and then away quickly. “I don’t date a lot. My sister dates enough for the both of us, which is why I graduated a year early and she’s still waiting for the end of the first summer session to be able to join me out here.”

  “Ah, but I saw all those guys hitting on you that first night I met you in Vukodlak.” I quickly sent a ninja kick into Gage’s leg to stop him from running his mouth any more.

  “Oh, well, they must have all been drunk or high, because I can’t seem to get anyone to notice me now.” She was blushing profusely, and ducked her head so she was sheltered behind the fall of her golden hair for a minute.

  “Ha! That’s not true at all,” Garrett tossed out there.

  Izzy ignored that comment, and took the last sip of her drink, facing away from us and toward the bartender instead to get his attention. “Can I get another, please?” She asked sweetly.

  I had already knocked back my drink thanks to my nerves, and decided it was past time to kick this shit into high gear. I made my way around Garrett and went to plant my ass on the barstool next to Izzy’s. “Stan, hook me up with another too, and I got this.” I motioned between Izzy and myself to let the bartender know I was paying for her drink too.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Izzy said, not missing a beat.

  “Sure I do,” I insisted. “Garrett and I both owe you for running you away from the creek a couple weeks ago. I j
ust haven’t had a chance to offer up a proper apology.

  Of course, this familiarity drew Lana’s attention from the caveman who was supposed to be distracting her. “When were you guys all at the creek together?”

  “We weren’t there together.” Izzy blushed again, and the rosy hue on her cheeks sent a punch to my gut. “It was one of the first days I was here. I was coolin’ off in the creek and they just happened to show up.”

  “I bet they just happened to be there,” Lana spat out.

  “Actually, they probably saved me from more catcalls from the tubers on the river.”

  I stiffened beside her, and Garrett and Gage didn’t fail to notice as both of them laughed. Garrett, finally, came to the rescue. “Yeah, I um, scared her away when I laughed after she almost fell, and Grumpy here had to catch her before she face-planted on some creek rocks.”

  “Oh, why didn’t you tell me?” Lana asked, looking a little more hurt instead of the concern she was trying to pull off.

  “There was nothing to tell,” Izzy stated simply as she took a sip of her new drink. “I left after that, a little embarrassed since not only did someone see my near face-plant, but also laughed at me for it.” She sent an accusatory look over her shoulder at Garrett.

  He tossed his hands in the air in surrender. “I said I was sorry, damn. Fine.” He reached into his pocket and snagged his wallet. “Next round is on me since I’m a douchebag.” He winked at Izzy and she laughed.

  “I’ll take your drink, but I don’t know if I can hand out forgiveness just yet. We’ll see.” With that she winked back at him, and it took everything inside me to hold back the growl that threatened at the base of my throat. Even though the girls didn’t hear anything before I stopped it, my pack-mates certainly didn’t miss a thing, and Garrett took an involuntary step backwards to put more distance between him and my girl.

  “Dre,” Lana started with overly done sweetness, “the girls in the shop have been complaining lately.” Damn, this couldn’t be going anywhere good.

  “Oh yeah?” I prompted for the rest of the shit that was about to come spilling out of her mouth like poison whether I played into it or not. I took a pull of my drink and waited for it. She didn’t leave me hanging in suspense long.

  Lana nailed Izzy with a stare as she said, “yeah, they’re all complaining, because you seem to be off the market these days. I wonder why that is? I mean, you don’t date regular, but the girls sure do miss their hookups.”

  It did not go unnoticed by me that Gage’s arms stiffened around Lana’s waist. She had just pissed him off. Sure, he was doing us a favor by being the distraction I needed for her, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like the job he’d been given. Lana was a looker for sure, she just wasn’t Izzy, and therefore she wasn’t for me.

  “Time to grow up and get serious about things, I guess.” The words left my mouth a moment before I took a final pull on the beer I had left in my glass. Not that I had hooked up with any of those women in ages. It had been before I started seeing Lana with something akin to regularity. Months, probably six or more, had passed since I’d even thought about hooking up with any town women.

  To my surprise, Izzy turned on her stool to get a better look at me. I didn’t miss the sweet smile that spread across her face either. There it was, that feeling in my gut that now swelled with hope.

  “That’ll be the day!” Lana huffed out amidst a loud laugh.

  “What’s that?” Gage hissed in her ear, but I heard it.

  “The day any of you grows up and settles down…” She laughed again. “They’ll probably erect a statue in town. Newspaper articles will be written, ‘Brewery Boy Goes Legit,’ and all that jazz.”

  That was it for Gage. He stood, dumping Lana on her feet in front of her niece. “Well,” he drawled out the word in that southern twang of his, “that’s my cue to get on out of here.”

  “Gage?” Lana questioned sincerely, not understanding yet how she had just screwed up.

  “Yeah, darlin’?” He answered her, but he was already walking backwards toward the exit.

  “Where are you goin’?”

  “I’m headin’ home. Can’t be seen messin’ ‘round with the same chick too often. People might assume shit and think I’m goin’ legit.” Sarcasm dripped from his words thicker than his country-boy accent.

  “Aww, come on, I was just teasin’.”

  “No one likes a tease, Lana, least of all you!” He pointedly looked in my direction, and I had the sudden urge to ram my fist down his throat. He just threw my ass under the bus, because he got his panties in a tizzy. We would be discussing his attitude later, in private.

  “Aw, hell!” Garrett muttered. We both saw the steam about to rise from Lana’s ears. My mind raced a million miles a minute trying to come up with a way to diffuse the drama-bomb that was about to go off.

  “Lana, honnnney, can we…” Izzy stood and swayed unsteadily on her feet. Then she burst out into a loud round of giggles as I caught her before she tipped over completely. “Lana, too mush to drinnnnk.” I sniffed at Izzy, confused, because she had been speaking coherently enough moments ago. I didn’t smell the level of intoxication that should have been there.

  “Oh shit, I forgot, you could be a lightweight. Let’s get you back to the apartment.” Lana forgot all about her hurt feelings in time to take care of her niece. She threw an arm up under Izzy’s and took on some of her niece’s weight.

  As they moved past Garrett and I, Izzy looked back over her shoulder and mouthed, “you owe me.” Then the little lying minx winked at us. I hit Garrett in the stomach to shut him up as he started laughing, and almost gave everything away.

  “Oh, man, you are going to have your hands full with that one, Dre.”

  “Well, at least I can finally see a spark of hope in all this now.”

  “Yeah, she’s definitely feeling you whether she’s ready to admit it or not. She just saved all of us from the wrath of Lana.”

  “Is that anything like the Wrath of Khan?”

  “Dude,” Garrett shook his head at me. “If she finds out you’re such a nerd things really might not go well for you after all.”

  “You heard her, she’s all about hitting the books, not partying. I’m not worried.” I couldn’t help the grin that swept across my features as I spoke. That wink, her acting on my behalf, it all went straight to my head and for the first time in three years I felt high as a damn kite.

  Chapter Six

  ~*~ IZZY ~*~

  While I had been faking my exit from the bar the night before, the drinks I’d been pounding back, thanks to my nervousness about being near Dre, definitely went to my head. My alcohol-infused brain was currently pounding out it’s own beat inside my skull when the ringing of my phone woke me.

  “Hello?” I answered my phone groggily.

  “Rise and shine, little sister!”

  “You’re only three minutes older.” I groaned as I sat up.

  “Late night?”

  “Something like that. I feel like a construction crew is pounding away inside my head.”

  Liz laughed at me. “Hopefully, the crew is hot at least! Did you finally have better luck last night? No more trying to pick up stinky, no-tooth having, disgusting guys, right?”

  Now I laughed at my sister, as well as my own desperate misfortune, until it hurt my head too much to continue. “No more of that. We were surrounded by hotness last night, sis. I can’t wait until you get here, because you’re going to simply fall in love with Garrett.”

  My sister’s sigh clued me in to the impending news she was dropping in my lap. “I’m failing one of the summer courses, sis. I’m going to have to retake it during the second summer session. It’s the only time they offer it with a different professor. The one I have now is a complete douche. I swear he hates me just because I’m hot and blond. Apparently, his ex-wife was once hot and blond and he has it in for anyone who reminds him of her.” She huffed. “You’re not the only one h
aving issues with difficult men right now.”

  “So, you’re not coming at all then?” I knew I was whining, but I had been so looking forward to my sister finally joining me.

  “No, I’m still coming. I’m just going to wait until the break between summer and fall semester. I’ll be able to make it out there for two weeks once the second session is over.”

  I poked my lip out in a pout. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t see it. We had our weird twin link going on, and she new what I was doing. “Put the lip away. It doesn’t work when I can’t see it,” she laughed. “I’m bummed too, especially since I’ve already gotten an earful from dad about how I need to be more responsible, like my sister. You know, repeating these classes are costing him money, and all the other crap parents have to spout out at you to make you feel worse than you already do.”

  “Aw, dad never made me feel like that before.”

  “That’s because you’re the golden child, Iz.”

  “Ugh, I hate when you call me that.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t make it less true. I give dad the most headaches with my boy-crazy, live life to the fullest attitude. You placate him by being the bookworm of the family. No one is at fault. We offer him a balance. Imagine if we were both like me? He would have suffered a heart attack by now.”

  At that I laughed, because that was so true. My phone beeped, letting me know I had another call coming through. I tipped the screen down from my ear to see who it was, and smiled. “Speak of the devil! Let me call you back, Liz. Dad is on the other line. I haven’t talked to him in a couple weeks, so he’s probably freaking out.”

  “Okay, but when you call back you can explain why you haven’t been talking to dad.”

  “I will.”

  I clicked the phone over to the incoming call then. “Hi, daddy!”

  “Izzy,” my name came out on in a huff. “I haven’t heard from you...” He left it hanging there, because really, what else did he need to say to me?

  “I know, I’m sorry daddy. I’ve been hanging out with Lana, and job hunting online during the day.”