Werewolves in Love 1: Kiss and Kin (8 page)

He balked, but then he thought—fuck. What good would it do? He’d only make her more hysterical if he tried to talk to her while this pissed off himself. He went outside to prowl the deck. Nick joined him ten minutes later.

“All right,” his Alpha sighed. “She’s going to TJ’s house for the night. I couldn’t get her to promise me anything more.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t get her to—”

He didn’t finish the sentence. Nick calmly grabbed him by the throat and applied just enough pressure to make breathing iffy and vision blurry. Just for good measure, he picked him up off the deck a couple inches. Nick was three inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter than Taran, but he lifted him as if picking up a broom, which explained why he was a Pack Alpha and Taran wasn’t. Taran dropped his head in submission. Nick let go and set him back on his feet.

“Bro, you know how much I love you,” Nick said grimly. “I feel for you, I really do, and I think I understand what happened. But that female is madder than hell, and there’s nothing you can do about it right now. I won’t force her to stay here, and neither will you. Think of another way to keep her safe.”

He could breathe normally again. He put his hands on his hips and scuffed his cowboy boot against the patio table.

“All right,” he muttered. “All right. Can you ask TJ to try to make her stay at her place?” “

“Absolutely.”

“I already put a GPS locator on her car, so I’ll know where she is when she’s not with TJ.”

Nick snickered. “I shouldn’t be surprised. When did you do it?”

He grinned bitterly. “Monday morning.”

“I’m assuming she doesn’t know.”

“Nope.”

“If you think she’s pissed at you now…”

He shrugged. “What’s she gonna do? Hate me more?”

“Taran. She doesn’t hate you. You scared her, wolf. You just altered her life, and it’s gonna take some time for her to adjust.”

“I was trying to tell her she could have all the time she needed. She doesn’t want me, Nick, I think that’s pretty obvious.”

“Don’t be stupid. Sounds like she wanted you all night, and I think she’s wanted you a long time. She just needs—”

“You said you came over here to talk about Kuba.”

He probably shouldn’t interrupt his Alpha so abruptly. Nick fixed him with a narrow-eyed stare for a beat, clearly trying to decide if it warranted a more thorough throat-crushing, but he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Kuba. The Czech wolf. You said you came over to talk about him.”

“So we’re not going to talk about your mate anymore?”

“No point. It’s over, I’ll deal with it.” Cracks had been repaired, the barrier restored.

He’d let the pain seep through later, a bit at a time. “What about Kuba?”

Nick shook his head and sighed with resignation. “Okay, fine. A wolf out in Channelview says one of his buddies saw the Czech wolf in a dive bar. He snapped a picture of Kuba on his phone.”

“Nick, that’s huge!” He eagerly latched on to the one thing that could push Lark out of his mind for a bit. “Who was it? You have the photo? When did—”

His Alpha held up a hand. “Whoa, hold up. I don’t have anything yet—I’m still waiting to hear from the wolf himself; he’s a roughneck, moves around a lot, he’s supposed to call me.”

“When did he see Kuba?”

“From what I was told, the day I sent out the photo you gave me, so what—Monday? Yeah, I think so. But there’s more. Another wolf who doesn’t want me to give his name plays in some big poker games around town—he’s an attorney, and there are a few high stakes games around right now.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know—I wouldn’t try to bust one up or anything.”

“That’s what I told him. Anyway, he’s pretty sure he saw Kuba at a game this week. Naturally he didn’t try to take a picture or anything, but he said it looked like the picture I sent out, and the guy had a thick accent and played huge—he walked away with something like fifteen grand that night.”

“Okay, that’s good. That’s good,” Taran said half to himself, mind racing. He felt the itch coming on—the wholly irrational but highly accurate signal telling him a case was moving, clues were popping, maybe this thing had some legs after all. He started to prowl restlessly across the deck again. “Your guy’s gotta me get into one of those games, Nick.”

Nick started to say something, and Taran cut him off.

“Tell your guy I don’t give a shit about the poker game. My captain won’t, either—if I bring Kuba in, no one’s gonna care where I found him. Would you talk to your wolf and tell him I want in? I know they’re always looking for more players and I’ll spend money. No one will know I’m a cop.”

Nick nodded. “He’ll do it if I tell him to. I want these assholes off the streets and out of my town.”

“I wonder if I should take someone along. Maybe Denardo.”

“Who?”

“Rookie, officer from Oklahoma. Wants to get on SHIU. He hasn’t been here long, so he wouldn’t be recognized either.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve talked to him on the phone but we haven’t met yet.”

Any wolf moving into an area with an established pack had to meet with the Alpha at least once, to pay respects and acknowledge the Alpha’s authority, even if the wolf chose not to join the pack. In cities like Houston, with large wolf populations, the process was much more informal than in smaller cities.

“He seems like an honorable wolf, real dedicated.” He stretched and sighed. “All right. Shit. I need a drink. Can I go back in my house now?”

Nick laughed shortly and threw an arm around him. “Yes. I’ll go see if I can help Lark out of here, and then you and I can get drunk for a little bit, if that’s what you want.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think it is.”

When they went back inside, they found Lark gone.

***

TJ had the margaritas ready when she got there. She dumped her things in the apartment’s tiny second bedroom and threw herself down in the vintage eighties Papasan chair TJ wouldn’t throw out no matter how many people pointed and giggled.

Mumbling her thanks when TJ put the glass in her hand, she waited while her best friend settled on the sofa. She closed her eyes, but she felt TJ’s stare and sensed her anticipation.

“Well,” TJ eventually said softly, “I always figured if you and Taran got together, you’d call me, we’d giggle and squee, and then we’d analyze every single thing he said and try to figure out what would happen next.”

She didn’t answer.

“We still need to figure out what happens next, don’t we?” TJ continued.

She nodded.

“Lark, sweetie, you have to say something here.”

“He told me I’d run,” she mumbled.

“What did he mean by that?”

“He said if I knew how much he wanted me, I’d run like hell.” Her voice quavered as her throat tightened. “He was right.”

“Can you tell me how you feel? Are you sad, scared, pissed off, confused?”

“Yes.”

TJ smiled. “Okay. Are you even a little happy? The guy you’ve been in love with for ten years wants you, and—”

“Yes. It makes me happy. It made me happy; I mean, for about twenty hours it made me delirious. I thought my whole life had changed.” She laughed bitterly. “And I was right.”

“So. You’re happy he loves you, pissed off and scared because you didn’t have any warning—”

“Who said he loves me? I’m his mate. He doesn’t have a choice; it’s not like he picked me for
me
.”

On her way to the kitchen for refills, TJ stopped and turned around. With one hand holding the pitcher and the other one planted on her hip, she said, “Please tell me that’s not what flipped you out. Please tell me you understand the difference between a man and a werewolf.”

“Werewolves fall in love with women who aren’t their mates, don’t they?”

“Sure, all the time. Most wolves never even find a mate,” TJ called over the blender. “But wolves who
do
find mates say it’s love—it looks like love and feels like love and hurts like love. Only difference is, a mate bond lasts forever, and human love often doesn’t. Scientists say even for humans, love is partly a physiological reaction, so do you really want to get hung up on details?”

TJ poured her a new ’rita and sat back down on the couch, sipping her own.

She didn’t pick up her glass right away. She sat cross-legged and cross-armed in the large chair, growing more morose and annoyed by the minute as she realized her most trusted adviser insisted on approaching this whole issue rationally.

“I don’t consider it just ‘details,’ Teej. I’ve known him almost my whole life, and he’s never acted like he wanted me, or even liked me. He’s always treated me like an irritating little sister and now he figures out I’m his mate, all of a—”

TJ slammed her glass down on the coffee table so hard some of the icy green concoction jumped the rim and puddled on the finished wood. She paid no attention to the mess.

“Lark. Are you going to argue with
me
about wolves and love and bonding?”

She blinked in surprise. “Oh, my God.” Her heart dropped down to her shoes, and her face burned with shame. “I’m a selfish fucking bitch,” she said through her hands. “I’m a stupid, insensitive asshole. I can’t believe I didn’t even stop to think about you and Josh. Oh, Teej…”

“Stop it, sweetie. Just stop,” TJ murmured, sighing. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel like shit. I was reminding you I know something about this. I want you to look at this calmly. You need to figure out what you’re really feeling here.”

She raised her head to see TJ looking at her with love and sympathy, and she wondered what she’d done to deserve such a best friend.

“You don’t think I’m a bitch for freaking out about Taran claiming me, even though you lost your boyfriend when he found his mate?”

TJ took a couple deep breaths, staring into space for a minute. “You’re not a bitch, baby. I’m your best friend; you’re supposed to come to me when you’re unhappy. I lost Josh seven years ago. I’ve healed.”

“You’re healed, but you refuse to date werewolves?”

“Yes,” TJ said firmly. “Losing Josh hurt like hell. But it hurt mostly
because
it wasn’t his fault. And once it happens to you, you want to make damned sure it never happens again. Josh loved me—he really loved me, I know that—and then Melissa showed up, and it wasn’t his fault or her fault. It just felt so fucking random.”

“Some werewolves don’t leave their girlfriends, or their wives, when they meet their mates.”

“True. But they end up miserable. If a wolf’s in love with a woman and his mate shows up, he’s screwed either way.”

“But since it’s so rare for a wolf to even find a mate,” Lark said gently, “the odds of it happening to you again are, like, nonexistent. So you
could
—”

“Lark, I’m not discussing Nick. Not today, not tomorrow, never. We’re talking about Taran.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“Forgiven.”

Lark knew she meant it.

“Now. Can we agree having the wolf you’ve loved for ten years wind up bonded to you is maybe not the worst thing you’ve ever experienced?”

She sighed. “Oh, hell. I guess so.”

“All right. That leaves what? Anger at him for not telling you before he claimed you.”

“Right. It feels like he trapped me.”

“But he can’t. He can’t force you to stay with him. He’s fucked if you don’t want him. He’s bonded to you, body and soul, for the rest of his life, so if he committed some great sin, he’ll be doing penance forever.”

“Yeah, but for the rest of
my
life, there’s a wolf out there who can sense me, can find me, can never forget about me… I mean, there are some really scary stories about bonded wolves whose mates rejected them.”

“And none of them apply to y’all. He’ll never hurt you, he’ll never go crazy on you. Like you said, he’s never acted like he wanted you. You really think it’s because he didn’t?”

She frowned. “What? You mean like, he wanted me and purposely acted like an asshole so I wouldn’t know?”

TJ rolled her eyes. “Duh. And why do little boys chase little girls and hit them with their backpacks?”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that.” She recalled something Taran said last night. “Oh. Oh, wow.”

TJ raised her eyebrows.

“Last night, after…after we made love. He said something about forgetting what it was like. He said he hadn’t been a busy wolf lately, and I was surprised, because he’s always had women, you know? So that would mean…”

“That would mean he hasn’t had sex in a while because you’re his mate. He probably hasn’t wanted anyone else. Even when he’s horny, being with other women would just make him unhappy.”

The implications staggered her. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “Holy shit. What if he’s been feeling like this for years? What if he’s been suffering as much as me? I mean—”

“How was it, by the way?”

“Huh?”

“The sex, Lark. How was the sex?”

“Oh. Um, unfuckingbelievable.”

TJ grinned slowly. “Really.”

“Yeah. Scary good.”

“Well, no wonder you’re so pissed off. Y’all could’ve been having heart attack sex all this time.”

She snorted her margarita. It burned her nose. “That’s not what I’m really worried about right now, but yeah, I guess.”

“So. What you’re really upset about is his not telling you first, because now you feel trapped.”

“Yeah. I feel responsible for him. He asked me if I’d expected a fuck buddy.”

TJ damned near snorted her own drink. “Shit. He said that? Did you punch him?”

“No! I was too upset to even notice. Hey.
Could
I punch him?”

“Oh hell yeah. He’s bonded—he’s yours. Look him in the eye, tell him to go to hell, throw something at him, alpha don’t mean shit after this. I don’t know why they refer to a wolf claiming his mate, when he’s the one who gets shackled, but oh well. So, you felt trapped…”

“Yeah. I always fantasized about him wanting me, or…”

“Falling desperately, head over heels in love with you…”

“Yeah. And then we’d have wonderful sex and be together. But I never tried to imagine the rest of it—explaining it to the family, dating like normal people. Get married? Break up? I mean, when you think about it, the complications could be horrible.”