Chief (Skin Walkers Book 19)

by Susan Bliler

  ***

  Having Alise petting and rubbing on Beast the way she was had Chief releasing a contented sigh. She wasn’t afraid of him! It had been a serious concern.

  Damn this feels good. Alise was giggling too, and it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. It spurred him to rub his snout against her as he backed her against the wall. Still giggling, Alise wrapped her arms around his neck, and he delighted in the way her body shook as her giggles continued. Only… Something suddenly changed. One second, the air was tinged with Alise’s merriment and the next it was thick with grief. It took Chief a second to realize her shoulders were no longer shaking with her laughter, but with her sobs. Alise was clinging to Beast like he was a lifeline as she cried quietly into his fur.

  Chief was seconds away from shifting when Alise whispered by his ear. “Beast, you’re beautiful. Just like I knew you’d be.” Sniffling, she breathed out a barely audible, “I…I wish you were mine. But he doesn’t want me.” Pulling back abruptly, she wiped at her eyes with the back of one hand while the other remained on Beast’s head. Chuffing a watery laugh, she sniffed again. “Don’t tell Chief I was crying okay. I don’t think he likes women’s tears.”

  Backing up, she pulled her hand from his fur with a whispered, “I really do think you’re beautiful.”

  Alise sealed herself back in her room and Beast stood there dumbfounded. She thought only one of them—either the man or the beast—could be present at a time. She thought she’d just bared her soul to his animal without his knowledge. She was wrong. And she was wrong about tomorrow too. Tonight and her reaction to Beast cemented it. Chief wasn’t letting Alise go, not without a fight, and if there was one thing he did exceptionally fucking well, it was fight!

  Chapter 20

  Alise woke late, much later than she’d expected. Surprised to find the TV tray set up again right beside the bed with a plate of food and a steaming mug of something beside it, she wondered who’d brought it in and why she hadn’t stirred when they had. Typically a light sleeper, it was rare that someone was able to sneak up on her.

  Sitting up, she stretched and eyed the plate that sat beneath a bright red kitchen towel. She could smell the coffee now, and it had her mouth watering. Still, she wondered if whatever was on the plate was worth her getting out of bed for or if she should just doze a little longer.

  Feeling a little hung-over, she wasn’t sure if the residue of sleep clinging to her was from too much sleep or not enough. She wasn’t sure, but her growling stomach decided her course.

  Shoving the blankets off, she crawled to the side of the bed, pulled the towel from the plate, and frowned at the six steaming biscuits and side-bowl of thick gravy that greeted her. She’d only ever eaten biscuits with white gravy. Shrugging, she grabbed a biscuit and dunked it in the brown gravy before taking a bite.

  Holy Hannah! She’d been expecting some sort of savory sausage gravy, but what she got was chocolate. Creamy, thick, warm chocolate gravy.

  Moaning, Alise readjusted to a better sitting position and dug in.

  Alise devoured her breakfast, eating four of the six biscuits and polishing off the entire mug of coffee. After she’d brushed and gotten cleaned up and dressed for the day, she found herself stalling in the guestroom. Today was the day she and Chief traded mate marks and went separate ways. She was surprised at how much the thought of separating from him hurt. Hell, she’d only met him two days ago! She shouldn’t feel like this, but no amount of chastisement had the ache dulling.

  “You can do this. You’ve lived through worse.”

  But had she? It sure didn’t feel that way to her heart.

  Steeling herself, she paced to the door, jerked it open, and set out to find Chief and that mark she needed in order to be done with him because she needed this over with. Delaying it only made things worse, only reminded her that once again she wasn’t good enough. Besides, she’d told Chief that she wasn’t a hummingbird, and she meant it. She was strong, made of iron, and she wasn’t going to sulk in her room. No, she was gonna rise to this challenge. She was gonna face the day and the aftermath like the fucking phoenix she was.

  ***

  After sneaking breakfast into her room, Chief had successfully avoided Alise all day. It was hard too because last night kept playing through his head, and Beast kept snarling at him to go find her and tell her the truth. But Chief had a plan, and it was one Chloe was on board to help with. So, he’d spent the day helping Dell and Briggs with digging the compound out from the storm. They did other chores and projects around the compound too, but Chief was careful not to get too far that it’d cause Alise any discomfort.

  He was glancing at the house when beside him, Briggs bit out, “Christ, man! Just go claim her already. It’s obvious that’s what you want to do. Do it!”

  With a chuckle, Dell cut in, “It ain’t that easy, little brother. Chief let it ride too long, and now Alise has plans of her own. Plans that include getting as far from Chief as possible.”

  “So she feels the same way about him the rest of us do?”

  Chief shot Briggs a dark look as both he and Dell laughed.

  “I’ve got a plan,” Chief snarled, eyes still on the house. “I’m gonna…court her.”

  Briggs dropped the two-by-four he’d been holding and took a step toward Chief with excited round eyes. “Can I watch? Please? Please, please, please?”

  “Fuck you,” Chief snarled.

  Briggs and Dell laughed again before Dell sobered, “Leave him alone, brother, before I tell him how smooth you were courting Kya.”

  That had the smile slipping right off Brigg’s face.

  When the front screen door opened and Chloe waved excitedly, Chief dropped the stack of lumber he’d been helping stack and stalked toward the Phena. He’d hoped to do this alone, but Dell and Briggs dropped their wood and followed.

  Sonofa…

  In the house, Chloe pressed a finger to her lips, indicating they should be quiet as she motioned toward the den.

  The guys all went that way as Chloe disappeared toward the other end of the house.

  Alone with Briggs and Dell in the den, Chief couldn’t help but put voice to his fears. “What if this doesn’t work? What if she still wants to separate?”

  “It’ll work,” Dell answered gruffly. “You have to have faith.”

  “Yeah,” Briggs supplied, “and if it doesn’t work, you can just post up here until your heart finishes shattering. We could use the help.”

  Both Chief and Dell shot Briggs dark looks.

  “Joking!” He held up his hands. “I’m only joking, bro. It’ll work. I know it will.”

  They quieted as footsteps sounded down the hall.

  Nervousness exploding inside of him had Chief tensing as he faced the entryway.

  When Chloe and Alise entered, Alise saw him and stalled near the doorway. Her eyes touching on everyone else in the room before she cleared her throat and asked nervously, “So this is it? We doing this now? Here?”

  Hell no!

  Beast snarled loudly and had everyone’s head whipping in his direction. Dell and Briggs looked surprised, Chloe looked annoyed, but Alise. Whooo…his Alise’s lips tweaked up in a quick grin like she’d just shared some secret joke with Beast. He got it. She felt like she knew the animal now. Beast felt the same way about her.

  “We can’t do it right now.” Chloe shot a feigned confused look at Chief. “It’s gotta be done on a full moon,” she lied. Looking at Alise, her brows furrowed, “You didn’t know that?”

  Looking deflated, Alise shook her head. “N-no. I didn’t.”

  Dell stepped forward, “Next full moon is in three days. You won’t have to wait long.”

  Chief’s eyes never left Alise. Not when she glanced at him, not when she dipped her chin, and not when she angled her face away like she didn’t want him staring at her.

  “Look,” Chloe cut in, shooting Dell a pointed look. “It’s probably been super crazy since you tw
o have been stricken. There probably hasn’t even been one second to even get to know each other, right?” She looked from Chief to Alise. Reaching up, she squeezed Dell’s bicep. “It’s early yet. Why don’t we go to town, get your minds off things. Have dinner, or a drink, or shoot a game of pool, how about just being…normal for a minute. How’s that sound?”

  Honestly, it sounded really fucking good, and hope flooded Chief as he stared at Alise.

  Whether she agreed to go just to be done with the conversation or out of genuine interest, Chief wasn’t sure. Still, he was relieved when she nodded. “We could do that.”

  “Good!” Chloe’s tone was a little too airy as she slapped Dell on the ass, “Why don’t we get ready and leave in say,” she glanced down at her watch-less wrist. “About two hours?”

  Everyone agreed, and when they disperse, Chief couldn’t help the excitement that tore through him.

  Tonight it began. Tonight he started work on winning his mate over.

  Chapter 21

  Two hours later, Chief was standing at the bottom of the stairs near the front door waiting for Alise to come down. Right after the meeting, she’d gone to her room, and Chief had taken advantage of the opportunity to get cleaned up in one of the other guestrooms. Dressed in a pair of borrowed jeans and a too small thermal shirt, Chief stared down at his chest and wondered if Alise would think he was trying to look like the Hulk. He discarded the thought, and his head snapped up when heard steps coming down the hall upstairs.

  Alise appeared at the top of the stairs and holy shit! She was so beautiful she knocked the words right out of him. Speechless. He was absolutely fucking speechless.

  She wasn’t wearing anything super fancy. Tight jeans, tall hiking boots, and a cream-colored sweater that hung off one shoulder showing off that blackbird tattoo and making her look soft and tiny. A powder blue coat was draped over one arm and her hair was swept up into one of those pony-things the girls wore that showed off their neck. He was certain she had no idea how much that turned shifters on. Necks were extremely sensual to shifters. Once mated, the woman’s neck bore the mate mark. It both pleased and irked Chief to see the satiny column of Alise’s throat. While it was beautiful and incredibly sexy, he knew there’d be other shifters in town tonight. It was Saturday, and everyone in small communities went to town on Saturdays. He had no doubt that some of those shifters would note the absence of a mate mark on Alise. It’d be worse because she was stricken right now, which meant she was throwing off pheromones like he’d no doubt be throwing around dirty looks.

  Descending the stairs slowly, Alise looked around. “Wh-where is everyone?”

  He wanted to answer her, he really did, but some words just took precedence. “You look beautiful.”

  Alise stopped on a stair, one hand on the rail as she canted her head. “Really?” She looked down at her clothes like they had anything to do with it. Looking up at him, her soft cheeks lit with the slightest hint of pink as she muttered, “Thank you.”

  Hmm, not used to compliments. He made note of the discovery and quickly set a mental reminder to compliment her more often.

  Rushing to hold open the door, he extended an arm, but Alise didn’t move.

  “Where is everyone else?”

  Shit! “They’re gonna meet us there,” he lied. He’d lied to Alise a lot today, and it didn’t sit well with Beast, but his animal kept quiet because he knew Chief had a plan and that everything they were doing now was in an effort to win her over.

  Looking around the foyer, Alise offered. “We could wait. I don’t mind.”

  “They’re having a pack meeting.” In for a penny, in for a pound. “And we ain’t pack so we’re not invited. It’s one of those things they’d prefer we not be around for.”

  “Oh!” Alise’s brows shot up, and she hurried down the rest of the stairs. “Okay. Whatever’s best.”

  Internally fist punching the air, Chief helped Alise into her coat then settled his hand on her lower back to guide her out the door. Even that slight touch settled something inside him, and it must have helped Alise too because she gave off the tiniest little sigh. He hadn’t made an effort to ask how the effects of the stricken were hitting her. She’d been really bad that first day and he felt like shit because he knew how important touch was. So, without asking, he reached down and slipped his hand around hers as he led her to Dell’s truck. Opening the door, he lifted her in and grinned at her surprised little yelp. Tonight he planned on surprising her a lot! Climbing into the driver’s seat, he set off for town with the excitement of a sixteen-year-old boy ripping through him.

  At Mighty Mo’s bar, he found them a table and held Alise’s hand as he led her to it. The place was hopping. Almost all the tables were full, even the ones he could see up the metal stairs that led to a small second level balcony. In the far corner, a two-man band played acoustic versions of the latest hits, and the scent of pizza and hops filled the air.

  Pulling out a barstool for Alise, Chief resisted the urge to lift her onto it knowing people would find it weird. She probably would too, but he’d never had a woman of his own before, and the need to treat her with kid gloves was nearly overwhelming.

  Settling in his own seat across the table from Alise, Chief stayed there only a moment before realizing he didn’t like it. Their hightop table was nestled between two others, and Chief didn’t like the idea of people being at Alise’s back without him being close enough to protect her if need be. So, abandoning his stool, he circled the table and took up the seat next to Alise. She watched him before flashing a wooden grin. He knew he was acting odd, but fuck it!

  When the waitress came, he ordered drinks for them both. Alise wanted a micro-brew, so that’s what he got too. He also ordered them cheese sticks and a large Canadian bacon pizza with green pepper because Alise said it was her favorite.

  Conversation came sluggish at first. Alise commented on the décor and how good the band was. When their drinks came, and she took a sip, Chief asked if she liked it or wanted something else to which she refused and kept her Damn Fog. Then they settled into a strained quiet before Chief got the idea to ask her questions, and it worked. Once Alise got on a roll, she kept right on going, and it was great because he was learning a lot about her.

  They talked for nearly twenty-minutes, ordering another round of beers, and as Chief listened to Alise, something was happening. Something odd. Something new. The longer she talked, the more enthralled he became. He found himself leaning slightly forward, legs spread and her chair sitting close to him, one of his hands rested on the back of her barstool. It felt good having her safe in the cocoon of his body. His eyes were riveted on the way her mouth moved as she spoke, the way her eyes lit up or dimmed with each subject. She was intoxicating, and as the hours passed, the food came and disappeared, and the beers flowed. He felt like his blood grew warm and sugary and sluggish. He felt buzzed up, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. It was Alise making him feel strange, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t want to be just buzzed. He wanted to be drunk on her. He needed more. It felt like those nights when he went out and drank to douse all the anger raging inside of him. He couldn’t get enough. Those nights though felt like running away. Tonight felt like racing home. He wondered if this was how it always felt with a mate. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Chief wasn’t lonely, and he actually liked it. Alise’s voice soothed him, her face mesmerized him, her stories enthralled him. He could listen to her forever, and he knew it. Hell, even Beast was rolled on his back and letting his tongue loll out as they basked in their mate’s attention.

  Whoa! Shaking his head at the thought, he jerked back and sat straight. Our mate! Christ, it felt so real, and Chief suddenly realized how much he wanted it to be.

  Alise noticed his reaction and stopped talking. They stared at each other a moment before she asked, “Are…are you okay?”

  Hell no! “Yeah,” he lied. “Just,” he swallowed hard. “Just got caught up in
you is all.”

  Alise blushed then glanced distractedly at the table and the now packed bar. “Is no one else coming?”

  Blinking at Alise, it took Chief a minute to register what she was asking. “Oh! Umm…” He glanced at the table then opted for the truth. “No. They’re not.”

  “Why?”

  He considered feeding her another lie but opted against it. “They never were. Chloe helped me set this up so that I could take you out. Alone. On a…date.”

  Anger flashed in Alise’s eyes a minute before it cooled as she pursed her lips and asked, “A date?”

  Chief nodded.

  “Why? We’re separating in three days. Don’t you think this is going to make things harder?”

  This was it. The part where he told her he didn’t want to separate. Here’s where he owned up and admitted that he wanted to try and make things work.

  He opened his mouth to speak when suddenly Pony BlackBird clapped him on the back and cut off Chief’s view of Alise. They’d met a few times, and the young wolf shifter was known as a jokester. He reminded Chief a lot of James back at StoneCrow.

  Bottle of beer in hand, Pony pointed at Chief and said, “We’re friends, right?”

  What? Annoyed, Chief looked around Pony in time to see Alise slide off her barstool. Jerking her thumb over her shoulder, she mouthed, “Bathroom.”

  Eyes on Alise, Chief watched her head toward the back of the bar.

  “Well,” Pony prodded. “We friends?”

  Without taking his eyes off Alise, Chief muttered, “Yeah sure.”

  Pony leaned over and got in Chief’s face, blocking off his view of Alise again. “Yeah sure we’re friends?”

  Frustrated, Chief looked at the shifter blocking his view of his mate. “Yeah! Whatever man.”

  “Okay, cool. I just wanted to make sure we’re good. I wasn’t sure after, you know, the incident.”