Kara's Wolves (4 page)

A groan vibrated in the night, jarring Kara back to her senses. Chuckling resumed a few feet to her right.

Oh my God, Kara. What are you doing? You don’t even know this man you’re
allowing to paw you wantonly against the side of the building, making a spectacle of
yourself for everyone in the parking lot.

Before Kara could act, Justin released her lips and leaned his forehead against hers again. He was breathing heavily, a sexy grin barely turning up the corners of his mouth just enough to bring out tiny dimples on each cheek.

Kara sucked in a breath at the mental image of nuzzling those dimples.

“We are so not done here,” Justin mumbled against her mouth as he nibbled on her top lip.

“I—”

“Yeah, I know. You have to go with your friends, but Kara… This is… You are…”

Justin nibbled his way around to her bottom lip and sucked it gently between his own for just a moment.

Kara released the breath she had been holding. “I am what?”

“There are…” he continued, kissing his way over her sensitive cheeks, roaming toward her ear “…so many … things…”

A clearing cough broke the spell Justin was weaving, reminding Kara her friends were still standing two feet away watching this scene unfold. Probably hearing his words, too.

“I have to, um, go,” she managed to utter while her body screamed “
No
”. What she really wanted was for him to press his erection against her. A need was boiling inside her that she never knew existed before this moment.

Suddenly, as if he were touching a burning coal, Justin released her and stepped back. He held his hands up in a pose of surrender before running them through his hair.

The tousled locks fell across his forehead when he released them, creating a just-woke-up look. Kara found herself wanting to reach up and touch the rumpled curls.

She shook the image from her mind and just gazed into Justin’s deep penetrating brown eyes. “I—”

“Yeah, you should go… I’ll ‘call’ you tomorrow to confirm.” He made air quotes and one corner of his mouth turned up at the cliché.

“You don’t—” Kara started to tell him he didn’t have her number, but he was backing away, smiling.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you,” he muttered. In a flash, he was gone, disappearing between several trucks in the parking lot, his footsteps no longer resonating against the gravel parking lot.

Kara blinked and stared into the empty space wondering if the entire thing had been an illusion.

“Man, oh man.” Kara jerked her gaze to the voice on her right, reminded once again she was not alone. “He was in a hurry,” continued Jessica.

“And he was
hot
.” Lindsey had a smirk of jealousy spreading across her face. Her eyebrows rose to indicate she was impressed. “And here I thought you were such a goody two shoes. Huh.”

“A very lazy ‘goody two shoes’ for the next week I guess.” Kara gave a smug laugh and crossed her arms over her chest in a challenging pose. Would they really hold to their end of the deal? Did it matter?

“Well… Who wants to go back inside? Double or nothing?” Jess motioned toward the door.

“Hell, no. I’m going home. I have some studying to do.” Kara didn’t even give them a chance to respond before heading across the parking lot toward the car. A moment of hesitation had Kara looking around her with the odd sense someone was watching her. A slight chill moved up her spine and she trembled. The night was still, however. No one in sight. Just like that, the feeling vanished.

The crunch of boots hitting the gravel behind her indicated her friends were following on her heels. Thank God. She didn’t know what she would have done if they had insisted on going back inside. She couldn’t bear to taint her perfect evening with anything else that could possibly happen in that establishment tonight.

Justin made a mad dash for his truck. His dick was rock hard and Kara’s lingering scent muddled his mind. Never, in all his life, had he reacted to someone so strongly. Just as he was about to open the door to the cab, he paused, took a deep breath and scanned the parking lot. The scent of another wolf was in the air. Not one he was familiar with. It was faint, but it was there, bringing chills down his arms and killing his erection on a dime. It wasn’t unusual for another pack to have a member running in the woods surrounding this area, but something about this particular scent made his hackles rise.

I must be losing my mind
. Justin grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. One last glance at his surroundings and he dove into the truck and headed out of the parking lot. Whoever it was, surely it was nothing.

Justin drove a bit too fast the three miles out of town to his farm. He needed to shift and go for a run to burn some of the sexual frustration. But first, he needed to talk to Trevor.

Thank God Kara’s friends had bounded out of the dance hall when they had. He’d had to fight the urge to take her right there. Sex in the parking lot was not the way he pictured their first time together.

Kara was… Kara was nothing like any other woman he’d ever been with. She deserved respect. And she was a gymnast. What the hell did that entail exactly? Justin aimed to find out first thing tomorrow.

As he rounded the corner and sped up the driveway to the single-story ranch-style home he shared with Trevor, his tires lost traction and spun out on the dirt entrance before the vehicle pulled to a stop. Thank God his truck had four-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes.

Lord, Justin, slow the fuck down. You’re going to kill yourself.

He bounded from the cab and nearly jogged into the house. Darkness and silence met him at the door. Trevor must still be out running. There would be no avoiding him when he returned. Forgoing his own need to run, Justin decided to take the bull by the horns, grabbed a beer and settled himself down at the kitchen table to await Trevor’s return.

There was no need for lights really. Justin’s vision was just as good in the dark as in broad daylight, one of the perks of being a shapeshifter.

After a long swig of beer, Justin leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling.

Yeah
. As if perhaps the answers to all his problems would suddenly appear there, because everything in his life had changed in an instant.

The initial anger he’d felt when Kara first walked into Boot Scooters disappeared the moment he’d laid eyes on her. Kara was destined for him and therefore his attraction to her was undeniable. He wanted her badly, fast, soon and often. He foresaw a lot of cold showers in his near future, unless he could somehow woo her quickly into his arms, his bed and his life.

His dick thickened at the thought of her soft lips, her tongue tangling with his, her hard body pressed into his against the brick wall of the bar. Justin blew out a breath and stiffened in his chair.

Trevor was going to be pissed.
Right? Why?
It wasn’t like Justin could have controlled this situation. He didn’t
choose
to find a mate tonight. It had just happened.

But he and Trevor had been best friends since kindergarten when Trevor’s parents had tragically died in a mysterious accident no one ever spoke about and Justin’s parents had taken him in. The two had become fast pals, nearly inseparable, closer than brothers.

More like twins. And the antics they had been involved in over the years had landed them many times in the principal’s office and caused Justin’s parents to go “prematurely gray”, according to his mother. Justin chuckled at the memories.

The problem was he and Trevor shared more than just a house. They shared women, and this new development was taking Justin right off the market. Their lifestyle was about to undergo an uninvited change. Justin dreaded telling his best friend and brother what had happened this evening. Hell, they owned the farm together. Would one of them have to move out? Which one? And where would they go?
Shit
.

The clock on the wall was the only noise breaking the silence, ticking away the minutes until Trevor returned.

*

Trevor ran full speed toward the house. He had covered miles and miles of land in an effort to blow off the week’s steam, dashing between trees, jumping over streams, clawing at the ground. Something had made him stop dead in his tracks about an hour ago. He had paused in his full-out run to lift his nose into the air and sniff the surroundings.
Nothing
. Not one thing seemed out of place or unusual about the woods tonight. But still, a niggling in the back of his mind told him it was time to go home. The urge to find Justin and check in was driving him to dash toward home with all haste.

Especially since their bond had diminished significantly in the last hour. Either Justin was blocking him for some reason or he was in trouble. Neither case made Trevor feel any better.

As he bounded into the last clearing surrounding the house, he had an innate sense that something was … off. The ranch-style brick home looked the same as always, sprawled out between the huge oak trees Trevor and Justin had insisted be left standing when they’d had the place built three years ago.

Justin’s truck was in the driveway, but no lights were on. Had he gone to bed already? Why was he even home yet? Usually on a Friday night, Justin preferred to mingle. Check out the scene at Boot Scooters to catch a game of pool with other pack members. It was the one night the two of them usually spent apart, fulfilling their own separate urges.

Trevor paused at the back door and allowed the change to take place. Bones cracked, muscles shortened, hair receded and within moments, Trevor stood, naked as the day he was born in his human form, reaching for the doorknob.

As soon as he opened the door leading into the kitchen, he knew his instincts to return home were right. Standing in the doorway, the first emotion to filter through his system was awareness. Something warm crawled beneath his skin. Fury followed close behind.

“Fuck.” He glared at his best friend of twenty some-odd years and stomped into the room, not caring one iota that he had no clothes. The two of them had been naked together more times than he could count anyway, either changing forms or sharing women. Now was no different.

Justin’s gaze met his, a look of uncertainty filling the depths of his deep brown eyes and furrowing his brow.

Trevor slammed the door to the kitchen behind him, causing Justin to jump in his seat.

“Why … do you … reek … of my … mate?” Red-hot anger surged through his veins. He couldn’t breathe. Every muscle in his body froze tight. Fists at his sides, teeth gritted, he tried to hold back the urge to slam one of them into his best friend.

“Your … what?” Justin appeared totally confused. “Your …
your
mate?” He shook his head. “I can’t believe this. So it’s true.” He smiled, getting to his feet.

What the hell is he talking about?

Trevor lifted his nose into the air and took a giant whiff, filling his lungs with the sweet feminine essence. Without a doubt the only smell in the room, besides that of Justin and himself, was definitely female—the woman he would spend the rest of his life with.

“Trevor, I—”

“Don’t fucking ‘Trevor’ me. Did you know? Did you know she was mine before you put your grubby paws on her, sucked her tongue into your mouth? Tasted her neck?” The only thing stopping Trevor from changing back into his wolf form and attacking his best friend was the absence of the musky scent of sex.

Justin leaned his head back and roared in laughter. The action only infuriated Trevor more, making his shoulders tense in preparation for a fight.

“Thank you, God. And here I’ve been sitting for…” Justin glanced at the clock on the wall, “…thirteen minutes, dreading this confrontation more than anything in the world.” He could barely spit the words out between his raucous chuckling.

“I don’t know what you find so funny—” Trevor stepped closer to Justin, his hand curling into a fist. His face burned with anger.

“Trevor, stop.” Justin’s laughter died. His expression grew serious. “Sit.” He pulled out a chair and headed for the fridge. As he returned with a pair of beer bottles, Trevor eyed him cautiously. “
Sit
,” Justin repeated, angling the head of one bottle toward the chair with the air of authority that brooked no argument as he took a seat himself.

Trevor grabbed the back of the chair, dragging the legs across the wooden floor.

“Fine, but you have some serious explaining to do.” Trevor cautiously stared Justin in the eyes from across the table.

“I met a woman tonight,” Justin began.

“
A
woman? No shit, Sherlock—”

“
Trevor
,” Justin nearly shouted, “shut the fuck up for a minute and listen to me.” He wasn’t laughing anymore. Taking a sip of beer, he cleared his throat. “Like I said, I met her at Boot Scooters tonight. And, for your information, she is most assuredly
my
mate…” Justin paused before adding, “too.” Justin stopped speaking and stared at Trevor.

Trevor let Justin’s words seek into his muddled brain. “Your …
your
mate too?”

Was this a joke?

It was so uncommon. It had been years since two wolves had bonded with the same female.

All their lives, he and Justin had shared women, always knowing one day it would come to an end when one of them met their mate, not taking seriously the possibility that perhaps, just maybe, fate would bless them with the fortunate ability to share the same mate.

“Well fuck me.” Trevor sat back in the chair, relief washing over him. His best pal in the world had not stolen his mate. In fact, he had not even taken her at all yet. A slow smile grew across his face and he slammed his hand down on the table. “I don’t believe it. How did you know?”

“I didn’t, until you walked through the door ready to pounce.” He shook his head in disbelief. “No wonder I sensed such a strong vibe you were going to be ticked off.” Justin laughed again and tipped his head back to take a long slow swallow of beer.

Without warning, Trevor’s emotion changed from anger to jealousy and he didn’t like the sudden resentment one bit. “What … what is she like?” he managed to say, amid visions of Justin frolicking around the dance hall with the woman they would spend the rest of their lives with.