Two Minutes (Seven Series Book 6) (24 page)

Denver stood up and strode out of the room. “I have to get ready for work.”

“Whoa,” Jericho said, snatching his arm when he walked past him in the living room. “I think you need to call in and take the night off. Once Maizy shifts back, you need to have a talk with her. If you head off to the bar, that’s going to look really shitty.”

“He’s right,” Reno agreed.

The men turned toward the front door when something scraped against it. Wheeler gripped the handle. “This better not be another body.” He cracked the door and their eyes lowered to see a scrawny, wet cat strut inside. “Nice you could make it to the party,” Wheeler said.

Naya descended the stairs, rubbing her eyes. It looked as though she’d been wearing her earplugs again and had missed out on all the action. She yawned and stretched her arms, looking between all the men.

“Spartacus! Mama was looking everywhere.”

“Looks like your pussy’s all wet again,” Jericho said with a laugh. “And dirty.”

She lifted the cat. “You’re getting less funny.”

Spartacus shook his hind leg and rainwater sprayed on the floor.

“Keep him upstairs,” Wheeler said. “Lock him in the bathroom. We have a new guest in the house—another wolf.”

Her eyes widened. “A wolf? Who?”

Wheeler smirked and gave her a wink. “You’ll see, kitty cat.”

When I came out of my shift, I had a blanket draped around my shoulders.
First I recognized the empty fireplace, and then I saw Lexi handing me a pair of baggy jeans and a soft T-shirt. I took them and glanced over my left shoulder. Austin had his back to me, and it looked as though he’d evacuated the house so we’d have privacy.

“Do you remember anything?” Lexi asked.

I couldn’t help but notice the exuberant smile on her face. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s not answering her phone, so I’m betting she’s out with Maddox. Austin decided not to tell anyone over the phone. This is big news, and we’re not sure how to handle it. You still have the mark on your shoulder.” She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “I say we lie and tell the other packs she was a Shifter the whole time,” Lexi said, looking up at Austin. “We could just tell them we pretended she was human because my mother adopted her, or to keep others away. Hell, people will believe anything if you’re convincing enough. Her energy was always weak; no one can disprove it. Not if she shifts in front of them. They might think she’s just a weakling.”

I sat on the edge of the fireplace and bent my knees. “What happened with Denver wasn’t planned, and I’m embarrassed by the way everyone found out.”

Austin remained standing, his arms folded. “Did you realize you were making an important choice, or did it slip your mind?”

Was that contempt in his voice?

“I knew,” I admitted. “Ever since Lexi told me, I haven’t been with a man. I was scared. I should have told Denver before we started, but I was afraid it would ruin everything.”

“Were you using him to become one of us?” he asked, not pulling any punches.

“Austin!” Lexi hissed.

I launched to my feet and tried to walk past him. “I don’t have to answer that!”

He snared my upper arm. “I’m asking
politely
, but just remember you’re a Shifter now. I’ve always made exceptions where you were concerned because you were human. But as of this afternoon, you’re now a wolf who lives in my pack. You’ll respect me as your Packmaster and will be treated the same as every other wolf or panther in this house. It doesn’t change how I feel about you, but it
does
change what I expect from you. I want you to be honest, or this could blow up in my face.”

“I can’t believe you’d ask me something like that,” I snapped. There was no quelling my anger; it bubbled to the surface and was about to explode all over my Packmaster. And that would be bad, because I knew deep down that Austin was right. His job was to protect his family and keep the pack together, and that meant sometimes he had to ask hard questions and make tough decisions.

“Austin, she just went through her first shift,” Lexi said in a calm voice. “Can’t we talk about this later?”

“No, Ladybug. The pack’s going to have questions, and I need to know how to answer them.”

I looked around. “Where’s Denver?”

A thin veil of light stretched through the house, signaling the sun was reaching for the horizon. It seemed unusually quiet. The kids had gone to Lorenzo’s that morning to go horseback riding and stay for the night. I cupped my elbows and leaned against the back of the sofa in the living room area.

“I sent everyone outside while you shifted.” He peeled off his dirty shirt and wadded it up in his hands. “Everything went real smooth. We still need to introduce your wolf to the pack before I bring out my wolf, that way I can get a better sense of her personality around the others. But I ran with you.” He poked his finger in his ear and scratched. “Your wolf likes running in the creek, but she did real good listening to my orders. Except for when she caught sight of a jackrabbit.”

I smirked, wishing I could remember some of it. But thinking about how confusing it was when I’d first shifted—the push and pull going on within my head—it was probably for the best that I didn’t.

“Hungry for anything in particular?” Lexi asked with a crooked smile, flexing her bare foot against the floor.

Shifters had cravings when they shifted back to human form; it was just an odd fact. Izzy craved cheese popcorn, Lexi was all about the chocolate pudding, and Reno loved bacon. Everyone had their thing, and it was always stocked in the house.

“Now I understand what you guys always go on about,” I said, holding my stomach. “It’s not intolerable, just persistent.”

Lexi suddenly rushed forward and hugged me tight. “You know what this means? I’m not going to lose you,” she said softly. “I still get to be your big sister.”

“You would have always been my big sister, even when I got old and wrinkly,” I said matter-of-factly.

She laughed and stepped back, tears shining in her eyes. “Yeah, but now if you get hurt, you can shift to heal. You’re not as fragile as you were before.”

Except for my heart
. “Can I speak to Denver before I see everyone? Alone?”

When they headed outside, I caught a glimpse of the pack. Trevor was sitting on top of the porch railing, and April poked her head into view to steal a glimpse.

Denver strolled in, kicking the door shut behind him with his heel. He’d put on a shirt but I could tell he hadn’t showered since there was still mud on his arm. He stopped a couple of feet short of me. “How are you feeling?”

“Discombobulated.”

A smile touched his lips. “Sounds about right.”

“I’m sorry.”

He folded his arms and the air between us changed. “You can’t keep putting me through that.”

“It’s not like I turn into a Shifter every day.”

“This isn’t funny!” he said, his voice rising. “I thought you were dying.
How
could you make me go through that again?”

“I didn’t know,” I said tersely.

His eyes narrowed. “You knew.”

I shoved at his chest. “I didn’t know it was going to hurt. No one warned me; no one told me anything except for what the end result would be.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried. But it happened too fast.”

He stepped forward, reducing the space between us. “That’s not what I mean. You’ve known all along.”

“I had to keep it a secret. Last year Lexi told me the story about Austin meeting a Chitah who was once a Potential. He didn’t find out much from her except the story about how she chose to become a Chitah. Austin wanted to protect me from people who might recognize the mark, so I had to keep it hidden.”

“You came back home and decided to fix our problems, all while keeping your own secrets. Do you want a truthful relationship between us? Isn’t that what you said earlier before we… before?”

“Yes.”

His lips curled in. “But
you
weren’t truthful with
me
. Why of all people couldn’t you have trusted the one man sworn to protect your life?”

“You’ve always said you were willing to die for me, but that’s not what I want, Denny. I want a man who will
live
for me. Someone who’s not just willing to protect my life, but my heart.” My lip quivered, pain constricting my chest. He was pushing me away again.

“You mean Prince? Was I just a means to make the transition easier so you could finally have your happily ever after?”

“Don’t do that,” I said, pointing my finger. “This hasn’t been easy for me. How do you think I felt knowing that my life has been a lie—that I’m not really a human? That scared me into not having sex with anyone.”

He covered his ears. “I don’t want to hear about you having sex with other men.”

I tugged one of his arms down. “Don’t be such a prude. You’re just going to have to get used to the fact that I had a life without you.”

His voice lowered and sent goose bumps over my arms. “What do you mean by that?”

“You could have been a constant in my world, but you chose to exclude yourself. I had to live my life. You pushed women away because of Cora, but why did you have to push
me
away? You were my watchdog… my best friend. All those letters I sent you—why didn’t you write back? Why didn’t you care enough to ask how I was doing?”

At that point, I was certain everyone outside could hear our conversation. But it didn’t matter anymore.

I took his face in my hands. “Please, talk to me.”

“When you were about eleven, you got sick. Scared the hell out of me. That’s when it hit me that you weren’t always going to be around. I didn’t want to lose you,” he rasped.

“But you did. You pushed me away. You abandoned me.”

“I didn’t want to watch you get old; I didn’t want to watch you die. It would have destroyed me. Then you had the car accident, and I almost lost you. You’ve always been too fragile for me to hold.”

All I wanted was for him to touch me, to kiss me, to take me in his arms. I gravitated toward him, leaning forward, remembering what it felt like to have his mouth on me, to claw my nails into his tan shoulders, to see his biceps thicken with every thrust. I hadn’t even been able to enjoy the afterglow of our lovemaking.

When he stepped closer, there was no more distance between us—not in inches, miles, or years. His fingers splayed across my hips, and a shiver danced through me when he looked at me with a fervent gaze. His mouth brushed against mine—barely touching.

I placed my hand over his heart. “Remember when I told you I wanted to be an explorer? You said there was nothing left to discover—that it’s all been found,” I said against his lips. “You were wrong, Denny. I want to discover your heart. No one has ever explored it, and I want to be the first.”

His tongue forced its way into my mouth, and I moaned. Denver lifted me up, and my legs locked around his waist while he kissed me hard. He held me as if I weighed nothing, but made me feel as if I meant everything.

“Mine,” he whispered, kissing my jaw and then neck. “
You’re mine
.”

“Always,” I breathed.

We twisted around each other in an embrace. When applause erupted, we both turned to the front windows. Just outside, the pack was peering in. Trevor gave us a thumbs-up, and someone whistled.

I laughed against his neck. “I guess we can’t keep this a secret.”

Denver looked up at me. “A secret is something you keep out of fear or shame. I don’t have that with you, Peanut. You’re my girl, and that’s the way it is. I’m going to hire a guy to fly a plane overhead with a banner.”

I ran my fingers through his wavy, disheveled hair. “You could just buy some TV time and run a commercial.”

His brow arched. “Not a bad idea.”

“Do you think your wolf will like mine?”

He set me on the back of the sofa and rested his hands on my waist. “He’s only known you as a human. Let’s take it slow.”

Denver was afraid his wolf would hurt mine, though he wouldn’t admit to it.

The front door opened and I heard footsteps. Denver kissed the corner of my mouth and stepped back, allowing the pack to greet the new wolf in the house.

“I’m going to kill Reno for not calling me sooner. I’m so happy for you,” April whispered as she gave me a hug.

“I guess this means I won’t be growing old alongside you.”

“Jeez, I meant about
Denver
,” she said with a one-sided grin. “You two are perfect together, like you were made from the same cookie batter.”

I snorted and stepped back to let the men kiss my forehead and attempt to conceal their know-it-all grins. I wondered what my mom was going to say about all this. She’d already been through the same with Lexi, but this was different because Lexi wasn’t her natural daughter. My mom had always had a different dream for me—one where I lived in the human world and had an ordinary life with a husband, a job, and children. Would this disappoint her? Would she think less of me because I’d chosen to become Breed?

Austin went over the rules and let them know about my mark and the importance of keeping it hidden. Sometimes urban legends existed for a reason, and he didn’t want any outsiders getting too close to me. He’d heard rumors about labs experimenting on Breeds, and Potentials would be hunted down. Denver was right about secrets, and this is one I decided to keep out of fear.

“We’ll do introductions later,” Austin said. “Let’s give her time to get comfortable in her new skin. I want everyone to keep quiet about this; now get back to what you were doing.”

Jericho glanced at his watch. “I need to head out. Denver, you want a lift to Howlers? William still hasn’t come back with your truck.”

Denver eased up beside me and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Tell Frank I’m taking the night off to be with my girl.”

I blushed madly, and I knew it from the heat touching my cheeks to the look on Lexi’s face when she caught sight of it.

“Somehow I thought this was going to be a lot harder for you all to accept,” I said.

Wheeler collapsed in a chair and put his feet on the coffee table, crossing them at the ankle. “I didn’t think Denver would ever come around, sorry bastard that he is, but it was pretty damn obvious something was brewing by the way you two have been checking each other out the past couple of weeks,” he said with a dark chuckle.