Fault Lines

by K. C. Stewart

  Without breaking the kiss he moved them on the couch so she was lying on top of him. He ran his hands down her robe covered back, the soft fibers caressing her bare skin. They reached her ass and he grabbed a handful. She giggled into the kiss, which caused him to growl, a deep and sexy sound she was finding out to be very Owen.

  They didn’t take it any further than that. A few more kisses and they were separating. His eyes flicked around as he studied her face. With a smile and once last kiss, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Mira, dazed from sudden kisses, rested her head on his chest and quickly found that sleep came easily this time around.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Owen had woken up a few times throughout the night when ever Mira shifted. Each time he woke up smiling and kissed her head, hand, lips, whatever was closest and would fall back asleep. This time he woke to the weight gone and the couch was all to himself.

  His first thought was that his little Rabbit had run away but the sounds of his shower running disproved that.

  Should have had her do that last night.

  She probably still felt filthy from that warehouse. He had meant to do more in the way of pampering but Tyson had interrupted him with news on their new Canidae guests. He had taken the liberty to call the Susquehanna Valley Pack in Pennsylvania who had a decent Enforcer. He’d be up in a few days to help. Owen wanted to speak with them but it could wait. It could all wait.

  Mira had taken everything in stride yesterday. He even found her little test of dominance with Lee entertaining, stupid but entertaining none the less. Owen had been waiting for her to break down but it never happened, not fully anyway. He got the impression that she didn’t show her feelings very well to anyone, including herself. Her body betrayed her with dreams and tremors. But he was still in awe over her strength. Mira was incredibly beautiful, full of deep curves and sassy smirks. She was intelligent, active, funny as hell, and above all, strong in all the ways it counted most.

  After they had eaten and talked, he had tried to trick her into falling asleep. He knew that by just him telling her she needed sleep, she would purposefully stay away just to prove she could. So Owen closed his eyes and listened to the movie. When she kissed him, he had been surprised, pleasantly so. It had been such a hesitant touch, so sweet and endearing that he let her have her way, for a little while at least.

  When it ended, Owen couldn’t let that be all there was to the kiss so he took it further; he took it to the limit and then stayed there basking in the lust. She had fallen right asleep after that. At the time, she had been content, or at least the soft sigh she had as she laid her head down on his chest had said so. But this morning his Rabbit was feeling skittish and possibly embarrassed.

  He stretched his arms up overhead then rolled off of the couch to his feet. Not the most comfortable of places they could have crashed but worth it. So totally worth it.

  He found her in his bathroom, wrapped in a towel, standing with her fists on her hips, her chest up, her head held high and her eyes closed. He grinned. She looked like Wonder Woman and was too damn tempting.

  He hated to ruin whatever it is she was doing but his curiosity needed answers.

  “What are you doing?”

  Mira’s eyes flipped open with horror. She quickly dropped her arms but her face didn’t lie, she knew the damage had already been done. Owen leaned back against the door frame with his arms crossed watching her. He had an easy smirk, one that was just a bit teasing.

  “Uh…nothing. That was nothing.”

  Owen came closer. “That was not nothing.”

  “Um,” she fidgeted until she reached her “fuck it” moment and began to explain. “It’s really stupid. I do it when I need a boost. See, if you do the superman pose for two minutes a day it is said to give your confidence and attitude a pick me up.”

  “Oh,” he thought this was adorable and proceeded to shake her up a little more, “and what do you need to be more confident about, Rabbit?”

  She swallowed. “Uh, well…”

  “Keep going, I’m just going to grab a shower.” Owen turned from their reflections, hers was doing a lovely representation of a fish, and he began to disrobe. Nothing more came from her pink lips that matched the pink stain of her cheeks. She continued staring straight into the mirror at herself but he could feel the little peeks she took at him. The shower was hot and quite heavenly. He didn’t bask in it though. Owen did the basics and was done a few minutes later. Mira, to his surprise was still there. Her ombre hair was combed and she was working on braiding it.

  She was actively not looking at him, which he found hilarious. Owen wrapped a towel around his waist and watched as she visibly relaxed.

  “Owen, about last—”

  She was about to apologize or say something equally as stupid about last night’s kiss. So he cut her off with another one that rivaled it. It didn’t take much for her to forget whatever reservations she was about to spout off and melt into his arms. Every stiff joint and muscle relaxed until he was all but holding her up. Her hands dove into his hair recklessly, which he loved. Her body pushed itself up against his until they were flush with one another. When they parted, her lips were just shy of swollen and pink. She was pressed hard up against him, every inch of her smothering his own. He smiled down at her with satisfied eyes.

  “I think that should cover everything you were about to say.”

  Mira agreed in a dazed nod. “Yeah, you make a very convincing argument.”

  “So let’s just agree that I am right,” he kissed her again, “and leave it at that.”

  “Ok.”

  Now that the awkwardness had been averted they could move on. He ran his hands down her arms, softening his touch over the deep bruises. “I’ll get you some clothes to borrow then we can go get breakfast.”

  “Food. My hero.”

  He stopped halfway out the door. “As in I am your hero for getting you food or that food is actually the hero in this scenario?”

  She had to think about it, which wasn’t a good sign for him. “I’ll let you know after I taste the food.”

  When they left the room, Mira was dressed in one of his shirts, a bulky sweatshirt that she found utterly amusing with its hidden pocket and a pair of his sweatpants that had to be rolled up a ridiculous amount of times just so she could walk. Her hair was braided to the side and she wore no makeup. He had never seen her so natural before and loved it. Her features were softer like this. Owen found he enjoyed the Mira he knew with the red lips, wing tipped eyes and sass smothering every smile just as much as he liked this softer, unguarded Mira.

  The dining room was overflowing with pack. He wound them through the wolves with an arm over her shoulder. The hall and kitchen were littered with even more wolves, both dominant and submissive alike. Most smiled or greeted him with a good morning. He acknowledged with the same but didn’t stop to talk. He found the corner where Cobie and Candice sat together. Mira stepped out of his grip and went to them. He let her go and kept his distance.

  Cobie saw her coming and stood a bit awkwardly. His face didn’t hold back his surprise when she hugged him. Most of the room had quieted to watch as well. It was a sweet moment and he was glad the pack could see it. Cobie could use the ego boost and Mira had some great qualities that people could miss if they weren’t looking. The fact that she was human would put off a few right from the start but he was confident in her ability to win them over eventually. It was then that Owen realized that he wanted them to like Mira. He wanted them to approve.

  “Owen,” Mira said to him with Cobie still in a half hug, “I was wrong earlier.”

  “Hmmm?” He stepped over to them. “About what, Rabbit?”

  She let him go but stayed next to the kid. “He’s my hero. You and food will just have to deal with being the hero’s sidekick.”

  He laughed. “Sidekick? That’s something I’ve never been called before.”

  “Well, get used to it,” she smiled.
/>   “I guess this sidekick should go get the damsel some food.”

  She nodded. “You did promise me food.”

  “That I did. Cobie, would you mind hanging here with Mira awhile? Can I get either of you something to eat?” Cobie had an empty plate on the table beside him but Candice was looking a little pale. “Let me rephrase, Candice what would you like me to get you to eat?”

  “You don’t have to get me anything Owen.” She only had eyes for her son and his well-being. As alpha her well-being was his concern.

  “You are right, but I will anyway.” He left to go get the women some sustenance and was back a few minutes later. Tyson had joined Mira on the couch. He was trying to look her over and get a better perspective on how she was healing, but Mira just kept slapping his hands away.

  “You can stop molesting my-” girlfriend. Owen swallowed. Yeah, that word wasn’t ready to be said outside of his head just yet. “My Rabbit. She’s fine, Tyson.”

  His best friend flipped him off.

  “Where’s Sadie?” he asked.

  “Went to go drop off the cinnamon buns in the kitchen. She stress baked all last night.” He rubbed his stomach. “I’ve gained almost twenty-five pounds since meeting her. Almost back to my original weight.”

  Owen was thrilled to hear that. The first time he had seen Tyson as a man after spending a year in the wild as a wolf, he had been skinny enough to make Owen worry. Not that he hadn’t been in a perpetual state of worry already.

  “Pretty soon I’m going to have to go on a diet,” he laughed.

  “So you are saying you don’t want me to make sugar cookies tonight?” Sadie asked as wound around Owen to hand Tyson a plate of eggs and sausage.

  “But you promised,” he said in something of a whine.

  As amusing as this was, Owen could feel the attention in the room begin to shift towards him. They were waiting for an explanation and he owed them a few.

  “Well, let’s get this over with.” Owen turned meeting the eyes of most the room. “Good morning!” All the talking ceased and people from the other rooms crowded the doorways. “I hope everyone is getting their fill and I just found out that Sadie brought cinnamon buns so if you want one, you might want to grab it since we all know they will be gone in a few minutes.” Owen looked directly at Chuck who was scarfing down one right next to his nephew, Zach. Behind him he heard Mira’s soft explanation of “him too?” Zach saluted her with two sticky fingers covered in icing.

  “I’m going to explain what happened yesterday and then open the floor up for questions.” There were a few nods of understanding throughout the crowd. “Canidae kidnapped Sadie’s sister off the street at approximately two fifty p.m. Cobie Jenkins was on his way home from school and saw it happen. He immediately called Vince, who called me.” Owen glanced around looking for the wolf. He spotted him near the kitchen standing by Lee. “A plan was formed and we used Cobie to find where they had been keeping Mira and get her out safely. Two Canidae wolves were brought back with us. We will be waiting for the enforcer of the Susquehanna Pack to get here before questioning begins. Questions?”

  He had given them a very light version of the events from yesterday. Sometimes having all the facts did more damage than good.

  “What had happened to the bond?” someone asked.

  “I had shut it down when Cobie had been explaining what he had seen. I did not want my emotions to overwhelm the pack.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Yeah, ok.”

  “That’s how you want to play it?”

  “Is she your girlfriend?”

  A few people shouted out their amused doubts to his reasoning. Owen laughed and told everyone to settle. “Now come on guys, let’s not embarrass her.” Owen turned around to wink at Mira who was rolling her eyes in a laugh.

  “Try to keep the questions relevant to the topic, please.”

  A few more serious questions were asked but he had lost most of them. Everyone wanted to know more about Mira than about what had happened. It wasn’t unusual. They liked gossip and he was a prime target.

  “We’re going to take a break. Everyone get another plate, chat a bit and we’ll come back to this in a little while.”

  The noise level grew immediately. Satisfied with how things were going, Owen took the break to wander around. He always loved when the whole pack came together. Submissive wolves had a tendency to stay away and set themselves apart from the pack. It was true that some packs didn’t appreciate them but submissive wolves kept the dominance issues to a minimum. Some might see them as a weakness but not Owen; he found their natures to be calming to the dominant wolves. They needed each other to function properly.

  Submissive wolves weren’t any less of a wolf. In fact they still shared their soul with one, they just didn’t change. Many submissives he had known told him that when they looked inward, they saw the wolf just as a dominant did.

  Owen greeted everyone. There were a few faces he hadn’t seen in a while and was joyed to see them now. As Alpha he tried to keep in contact with everyone but some were more recluse than others. This was true especially for the elders of the pack.

  “And the roof? Do you need someone to come look at it?” Owen asked Mrs. Conte. She had been recently widowed and hadn’t learned how to ask for help just yet.

  “In time, you’ve got too much on your plate right now.”

  He shook his head. She was one of the oldest pack members, he wouldn’t let her live another day with a leak. “Nonsense. I’ll be out this weekend.”

  She looked like she wanted to argue but her eyes darted to someone behind him. Owen turned to find Mira waiting to speak with him. He smiled and motioned her forward. She came and wrapped her arms around his waist while his arm settled over her shoulders. She fit so well against him he wondered how he had done without her on his side for so long.

  “Can I help you with something, Rabbit?”

  “I’m interrupting, I’m sorry,” she told Mrs. Conte. “I just need to borrow him for a second then he can go back to demanding to fix things.”

  The old woman laughed and waved them off.

  “I need to get going and wanted to say goodbye.”

  He nodded. “Tyson and Sadie taking you back to The Wick? I can come down later and meet you for dinner.”

  She bit her lip and shook her head. “Uh, no I mean, I’m going back home…to Buffalo.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t realized that…but of course you have to get back.” He felt like she just punched him in the gut.

  “I’m heading out this afternoon. I have to move my stuff out of my apartment tomorrow.”

  Because she was recently single and he had taken total advantage of her situation. Now he felt like a douchebag. Mira looked around and found a few people watching them. He had put on a mask. They didn’t need to see how disappointed he was. Not that he had anything to be disappointed in. Owen knew that she hadn’t moved here. He knew she had a life to go back to. This was temporary.

  It still fucking sucked.

  She frowned and looked around. “Can we go…” Mira’s question trailed off as she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd. They ended up out back and with wave of his hand; the few people milling about went elsewhere.

  “That’s better,” she said when they were alone. “Owen, I like you,” she blurted out in her honest, no nonsense way. “Yeah, I like you a lot and I wish I didn’t have to go back but I do.” She held onto his hand and linked her fingers through his but frowned when she looked up at him. “Jesus, can you stop looking like a statue. I can’t get a read on you like this.”

  His face softened. “Sorry,” he apologized.

  “No I get it,” she said waving away his apology. “You’re used to being head honcho and that means emotions stay at the door but it’s me and you kinda trusted me with a huge secret about you and your family so I think you can trust me with how you are feeling right now.”

  She was right. Of course she was rig
ht. He was just so used to closing up around the pack that it was hard to be himself when he wasn’t in his suite blocked off from the rest of them. Owen was constantly concealing himself from others through the pack bond. It was easy for that to leak into everything else. When Tyson had been gone, he had totally closed up. Lee had been the only one who could pull him out of it but even that had gotten harder to do as the months wore on.

  But with Mira, he found it harder to hide than to be himself.

  “I don’t want you to go but I know you have to.” He squeezed her fingers. The motion not expressing the heaviness he was feeling. “You’ll call though, when you get in?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I’ll call but you have to call as well.”

  “Every day,” he promised.

  “Mira, you ready?” Sadie asked from the side yard.

  “One more minute,” Mira said in an annoyed sisterly tone. Owen smiled. She might be leaving but Sadie was still here so she would be back. If not for him, she’d be back for Sadie. “Ok, go back to your wolfy stuff. I’m going to go pack.”

  She began to turn away and Owen tsked her. Would she never learn? “Rabbit?”

  Mira turned looking not the least bit surprised.

  “That is not how we say goodbye. I believe we already had this argument earlier and agreed that I was right about these kind of things.”

  Her smile could blind a man. “Oh? I don’t recall that part of the conversation. Maybe you need to remind me of the finer points that I may have missed.”

  Minx, he thought. “Of course.”

  She came back to him and slid her hands up his chest and into his hair. He engulfed her small frame in his arms and lifted her off the ground as their lips met. It wasn’t hot and heavy, but soft, sweet and sad. Goodbyes often were though. A soft cough told them that the appropriate amount of time a goodbye kiss should take had come and gone. He let her go and hoped it wasn’t for good.