by Lynn Howard
“All I’m saying is you’d be a fool if you didn’t chase that one out the door,” John said as he lifted his glass to his lips.
“You just want me to leave so you’ll have free access to my beer,” Noah said, but his eyes were on the door.
He heard the cars start up, but they hadn’t pulled out yet.
“Fuck,” he growled out as he leapt over the bar and ran through the door. What was he doing? What was he even going to say?
Emory’s car was still parked and she was watching the door as if expecting Noah to run out. Hollyn leaned against the passenger door, her back to Noah, her arms crossed.
Emory smiled wide, then looked down at her phone to give him a bit of privacy.
“Hollyn,” Noah said as he neared the car and rounded the hood. She barely glanced over her shoulder. “Wait.”
With a sigh, Hollyn dropped her arms and turned to face Noah as he came closer.
“I…” He still didn’t know what to say. But he did have a question. “Are you glamouring me?”
“What?” she asked, her brows pulled low.
“At my house. And in there,” he said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder. “Were you glamouring me?”
This time when she sighed, it was a relieved sound. “Then you felt it?”
Shit. He’d been right. And he so fucking didn’t want to be right.
“No. I wasn’t glamouring you. My magic was calling to you.”
It was Noah’s turn to frown in confusion. “I don’t know what that means.”
“How late do you usually get home?” she asked, reaching down to grab the handle to the door.
“Around one or later.” She’d be asleep by the time he got home and the last thing he wanted to do was wake her up. He was still exhausted from being woken up so early this morning after being out late.
“We’ll talk tonight. It’s too much to discuss in the parking lot.” She pulled the door open and moved to get in but stopped with her hand on the top of the car. “I wasn’t glamouring you,” she said again as if making sure he believed her.
He nodded once, setting his hand on the open door as she lowered into the seat. He waited while she pulled on the safety belt, then closed the door softly.
“Be safe,” he said after she rolled down her window. “If anything at all seems out of place, stay close to humans and text me. I’ll get every single fucking Shifter I know there within minutes.”
“We’ll take care of her,” Emory said.
“We’ve got her back,” Lola said from the backseat, her hand on the chest of her baby.
Six women with two cubs. He hated the thought of them fighting with the baby girls in tow, but all he needed was for them to keep anyone from yanking Hollyn away before he could get to her.
Noah tapped on the top of the car and stood in the parking lot, watching as both vehicles pulled away, sending a cloud of gravel dust into the air.
His mind wandered to Colton, and the men of Big River. Had it happened so quickly for them? Because since the moment he’d laid eyes on Hollyn, he’d had the urge to cover her in his scent, leave his mark, and declare the beautiful blue-eyed woman his. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to make her happy.
And he wanted her to stay in his life, even after the risk to her life was over.
Chapter Four
Hollyn followed the ladies around, even carried Rieka a couple of times when the toddler reached her chubby hands out. She hadn’t held a baby in years. Hadn’t even been around kids in years. Bars weren’t exactly known to be child friendly.
“She likes you,” Nova said with a smile. “Feel free to babysit anytime.” She winked at Hollyn and went back to holding items of clothing up for Hollyn’s approval.
Hollyn had never been much into labels, but she liked sparkly things and her favorite color just happened to be pink. And purple. And pretty much every single color of the rainbow. She missed her more feminine pieces. All she’d had were the flannels, t-shirts, and jeans she’d either borrowed from Aron and the rest of the panthers, or what they’d bought her from resale shops. Not that she minded thrift stores, but it would’ve been nice to pick out her own clothes.
“You’re a girly girl, aren’t you?” Nova said when Hollyn nodded at a pink sweater that hung off one shoulder.
“Oh yeah. Always have been,” Hollyn admitted, handing Rieka back to her mother. It was fun holding her for a minute, but she didn’t really know how to play with her. She’d never thought about motherhood because she’d always figured she’d be terrible at it.
“I can’t wait to see you all done up for work,” Shawnee said. “There’s a makeup place here, too, if you want.”
“Nah. I can get the drugstore stuff. I’m not into contouring or any of that. Don’t really know how,” she admitted. She liked eye makeup and lipstick but had never really gotten into foundation or any of the more intricate applications of makeup.
“We can stop on our way back. You need anything else, like a toothbrush or deodorant?” Emory asked, examining the load in the basket. “You better try this stuff on before you buy it. I’m pretty sure Noah was about to have a stroke with us coming here. If you have to make a repeat trip without him, he might have a damn heart attack.”
“He’s super protective is all,” Shawnee said, shooting Emory a dirty look.
“That’s what I meant,” Emory said, her brows raised in innocence. “All the guys are protective. Just because the laws changed doesn’t mean—”
Shawnee jabbed Emory in the ribs with her elbow. “Did you need underwear or bras?”
“I know about the laws and all that,” Hollyn said, giving her a soft smile to try to put her at ease. “What I didn’t already know before all this, Aron filled me in on the rest. He wanted to make sure I knew how important it was to stay inside the house when he had to leave for whatever reason.”
“Oh,” Shawnee said. “Sorry,” she said to Emory who held a hand to her ribs and frowned at Shawnee.
“And I’m good for now. I don’t want to spend too much of Nova’s money,” Hollyn teased.
“Oh honey,” Nova said, sauntering over. “Didn’t Red tell you? Your man gave her four hundred smackers to spend on you.”
“Nooovaaaa,” Shawnee whined.
“Girl, by now you should know if it’s a secret, Nova’s the last person you tell,” Lola said with a shake of her head.
Shawnee still gawked at Nova and shook her head.
“Why would he give me four hundred dollars? And he’s not my man.” Yet.
Thoughts of the conversation she’d promised Noah later that night sent those butterflies abuzz in her belly again. She’d have to be honest. And since he’d felt her magic calling to him, and since he was obviously attracted to her, they had more to discuss than whether or not they should go steady.
Hell, it was more than just the mate bond in his species. Once her magic marked him with its tendrils, there was no going back. For better or worse. And all that stuff.
“You okay?” Shawnee asked, her brows pinched slightly. “You look a little pale.”
Of course she did. She was actually considering forever with a man she’d met that day. Not someone she’d known and grown to care about. Not someone who’d originally been a friend. Hell. He wasn’t even someone she’d met a few times in passing. They’d literally met each other less than twelve hours ago and she was contemplating following her magic and binding herself to Noah in every way possible.
“I’m fine,” Hollyn lied. “Can we still go by a drug store so I can get some makeup?”
Noah had said she didn’t need makeup. He was correct; no one needed makeup. She loved makeup. She loved how she could change her look depending on her mood with makeup. She didn’t need it, but she wanted it.
“Of course. You got everything you need?” Emory asked as they rifled through the cart full of clothes.
“Yeah.” She headed toward the fitting room, but her mind was back at Moe’s as she tried
everything on to make sure it all fit properly. Only a few items went back to the rack. She would finally have some clothes that not only belonged to her but were her style. One more step to feeling like her old self again.
New clothes. A new job. And soon, makeup. Old Hollyn was emerging. And, depending on how the conversation went tonight, there might be a new and improved Hollyn bursting through the cocoon.
She preferred new and improved over scared and lost. That’s how she’d felt the weeks she’d spent with Ravenwood. Although she knew they could protect her, she’d felt like she was watching someone’s life play out on a movie screen, like a spectator in her own life. Since she’d pulled onto Noah’s property, her heart and soul began to settle. Even before her magic had stretched toward Noah, she’d known she was where she was supposed to be, where she was supposed to stay.
The women helped her load her new clothes onto the counter. She ended up having fifty dollars of Noah’s money left over. And she planned on paying him back for every penny as soon as she started working. Even if they decided to follow their other halves lead and bound themselves to each other, she never wanted to be dependent on another person.
What would he think when he saw her in clothes closer to her own style? Would he still find her attractive, or was he more into the country girl look? As comfortable as she felt in the middle of nowhere, she could never picture herself staying in flannels, t-shirts, and worn in jeans. It was cute on other women, just not her taste.
As she watched the pink, purple, and sparkly clothes bagged up, she couldn’t help but get excited to work behind the bar again. She’d intentionally chosen clothes she knew would be eye catching, just like she’d always done. Yet, the only attention she found herself craving was from the big, burly, bearded Shifter.
She was a mess. Her mind was all over the place. Just like her emotions. Her magic had chosen Noah, but she still didn’t like the thought of being bound for life to the same species that wanted to sell her and turn her into a slave.
Noah wasn’t like that, though. She could feel it, deep down, even without her magic.
“You ready?” Emory asked as she grabbed a few bags.
“Someone better let me buy them something today,” Nova said with a pout, little Rieka on her hip. Both children were so quiet and well-behaved. They’d barely made a peep since they left Blackwater territory.
Hollyn smiled as they headed to the parking lot, the women teasing back and forth. They were obviously close. And they’d welcomed Hollyn in with open arms in just one day. It had been so long since she’d been part of a family; it felt good.
The conversation tonight would determine whether she’d get to stay a part of the family or if she’d be all alone again. She knew they’d treat her well as long as she was there, but if Noah rejected what she had to tell him, she’d be on her own again, just like she’d been since she’d turned thirteen.
They headed to the drugstore, all the women and the two babies piling into the makeup aisle. Lola, Nova, and Shawnee had a blast perusing all the goodies while Emory and Peyton hung back and chuckled at their antics. Once Hollyn found the few things she needed – an eyeshadow palette, some liner, mascara, and gloss – they checked out and headed back for Blackwater.
“I’m not ready to go home. I’m getting cabin fever,” Nova whined as they climbed into their cars.
“You’re just mad no one let you buy a bunch of crap,” Emory teased.
Nova, Peyton, and Callie turned off to where Emory said was Big River while Emory drove Shawnee and Hollyn back to Blackwater with Lola sitting in the back with little Grace. The conversation had waned, but mainly because the nerves were making Hollyn retreat into herself. She couldn’t chat about makeup and clothes when she only had around seven hours before Noah would be home and they had a life changing moment.
“Thanks for today,” Hollyn said to Emory.
“Anytime, Hollyn. Seriously. It’s always nice to have more women around.” She winked with a grin as Lola climbed into the front seat once Hollyn vacated it.
Hollyn lifted her hand as Emory backed the car out and disappeared around the corner. Shawnee helped Hollyn heft her bags inside.
“You know, when I first came here, Colton took me shopping. I only had a few changes of clothes that I hated,” Shawnee said as they began to unbag the clothes and pop the tags so they could all be washed.
Hollyn moved Noah’s clothes into the dryer. She’d fold them once they were done but wouldn’t trespass into his room. Who knew how messy his bedroom would be?
“Why did you wear them if you hated them?” Hollyn asked, glancing over at her as she tossed a shirt into the washer.
Shawnee’s narrow shoulders raised then fell. “Because I was supposed to. The females in my Pride are raised to be pleasing and available,” she said, changing her tone to mock those last two words. “There was a certain image, a way we were to look, act, all that crap. I’m only with Colton because I was forced.”
Anger bubbled up inside of Shawnee. Had she been wrong about these people? “Colton is forcing you to stay here?”
Shawnee looked up with wide eyes, holding her hands out in front of her. “No! Oh my gosh. I should’ve worded that differently. I was forced to find a mate or risk being sold off. Colton just happened to be looking for a mate, too. He’s an old romantic and wanted a woman and cubs to dote on. It just turned out that we fell in love. Trust me when I say, my parents hate that I’m happy.” The chuckle that escaped Shawnee was a mixture of sad and sarcastic.
“Your parents don’t want you to be happy?” What kind of people raised a child to be miserable?
“I’m pretty sure they don’t even know what happy is. They actually tried to take me away from Colton,” Shawnee said, glancing at Hollyn from the corner of her eye, as if she wasn’t sure whether she’d scare her away with the story.
“What happened?” Hollyn asked. They tossed the rest of the clothes in the wash then headed into the bathroom to put the rest of her makeup and toiletries away. Now that she stood in the bathroom and saw the shampoo and lone bar of soap sitting on the side of the tub, Hollyn wished she’d bought herself some body wash and maybe some decent shampoo and conditioner. Her hair would be in tangles after using the crap Noah had.
Shawnee leaned her hip against the vanity and tugged on a copper curl, wrapping it around her finger. It looked like a nervous habit, or maybe she was trying to find a way to avoid the story.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Hollyn said. The last thing she wanted was to make the small woman uncomfortable.
“No, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I just…I don’t want to scare you off. That kind of stuff doesn’t really happen. I mean, it does. But…shit,” Shawnee said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I want you to stay here. I can tell you and Noah are clicking and I really want a sister-in-law.”
Hollyn smiled despite herself. Her heart did a little squeeze at the thought of having a sister of any form. Even before she’d lost her parents, she’d always been an only child. No aunts. No uncles. So, no cousins, either.
“You won’t scare me off,” she said, and it was only a half lie. The part of her that was already tethered to Noah knew there was nothing that could make her leave. It was the part of her that made her run her whole life that told her this life, a life with Shifters, could be just as dangerous as it was on her own.
“Well, I told you my parents weren’t thrilled that I was happy. It was more that they thought I should be with an Alpha. And they hated that I was working and making my own money. And that I no longer wore those stuffy clothes. And they were constantly on me about losing weight.”
“What? You’re gorgeous!” The woman had an hourglass figure and curves in all the right places.
“That’s what Colton says,” Shawnee said, averting her eyes as a pretty blush made her freckles pale. “Anyway,” she said, waving off the compliment as if she were uncomfortable with it. “They showed up at Moe’s
one night and the bears and wolves from Big River ran them off. Then they showed up here when we were all asleep. The thing is, my lioness had been pretty submissive since I was a child.” Shawnee explained how she’d had to train her lioness to stay away when she was being beaten as a child. She said it always got worse if her animal came forward to protect her.
“That’s so messed up,” Hollyn said with a sneer. Her own parents had always encouraged her to strengthen her gifts.
“Yeah. I know. So, they showed up and attacked. It was pretty scary. I thought I was going to lose Colton and the rest of the guys. Then Big River and a few other friends showed up. The Pride realized the fight was going to end badly for them. And then…my lioness got pissed and attacked. It was awesome.” She grew a little breathless as her smile widened.
“I bet it was.” Hollyn thought back to when her fire had come forth the first time. It was a rush she remembered over twenty years later.
“Why did you think you were going to lose Colton?”
“We were way outnumbered,” Shawnee said, looking toward the door as if replaying the scene in her head. “There were over twenty lions and just the four bears. And me. But my lioness wouldn’t come out at first. So…four bears against two dozen lions. They were all hurt pretty badly.”
“They risked their lives for you?” Hollyn asked, once again awed at how close these people were. The more time she spent with them, the less they resembled the people she was taught to fear – for obvious reasons – and hid from for two decades.
“Of course they did. We’re family.”
There was that word again: Family. None of them were blood, but they’d grown their own families, built lives with each other and were more than happy to take a complete stranger out on the town and get her new clothes, just because they wanted her to feel like part of that family.
She just hoped Noah could accept her as easily as the women had.
****
Noah struggled to keep from shutting the bar down early. All he’d been able to think about all day was Hollyn, about the pull he felt toward her, and her promise to talk later. It was officially later.
