Pack Rogue by Crissy Smith (3)

Chapter Three

Kiley lifted Jesse into her arms and carried her aeroplane-style into the kitchen. Thanks to her wolf shifter abilities, she could easily hold the girl above her head without too much strain.

Jesse giggled happily as they stepped through the open doorway.

Kiley stopped short when her gaze fell on the men that occupied the kitchen. She lowered Jesse to her side and wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders—more for her benefit than Jesse’s. Not paying close enough attention to her senses, she hadn’t realised the men had taken a break from their meeting.

Austin, Gray, Dominic, and two other men sat around the large oak table. The men had stopped talking and looked over when they’d entered. Kiley shifted from foot to foot, trying to think of something to say.

Right after she’d left Tyler’s office earlier so the men could take a phone call, she’d gone up to Jesse’s room with her. She’d been able to avoid everyone else in the house. Jesse had kept her occupied and she hadn’t had time to dwell too much on her problem.

Now it seemed she had run out of luck. Not only was her new mate in the room with her, but so were a few others. Strangers—she hated strangers.

When she didn’t say anything, Gray started to stand. Austin growled, freezing the other man in place. Kiley glanced between the two. She could feel the tension from Austin. It seemed nothing had been settled earlier. She’d tried to convince Austin that he wasn’t her mate—she’d tried to protect him—but he wouldn’t buy it.  Gray looked to be another problem.

Gray looked unsure, while Austin had his teeth clenched. Immediately Kiley knew Austin was aware she and Gray had a relationship and that she needed to calm her mate down before the situation exploded. She might still be uncertain about him, but she didn’t want Austin unhappy or Gray hurt.

She swallowed hard and offered a smile to Austin. “Hi,” she greeted him.

He seemed to make an effort to relax and nodded. “Hello, ladies,” he replied.

Jesse, who was unaware of any tension, escaped from Kiley’s hold and ran to her uncle. “Uncle Dom! Uncle Dom!” And just like that all the tension left the room.

“Yes?” Dominic answered the little girl.

“Kiley is going to stay the whole weekend with me!” Jesse exclaimed happily.

Dominic chuckled and lifted Jesse into his lap. “I heard that. What do you girls have planned?”

“Kiley said we could make cookies!” Jesse shared enthusiastically.

All eyes turned to her. Kiley shrugged a shoulder. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

Dominic and Gray groaned in unison.

“It’s just cookies,” Kiley growled in reply.

Dominic grinned at her, not saying anything. Kiley glared back and then looked around the table. “I’m sure I can handle cookies.”

“I’ll be sure to keep the fire extinguisher handy,” Gray quipped.

Austin and the two strangers didn’t say anything, but Kiley could tell they were amused too. She huffed out a breath and fisted her hands on her hips. “Oh, ha ha,” she muttered.

Austin stood and walked over, swinging his arm around her shoulder. It took everything she had not to pull away. She didn’t want to embarrass him. “I’m sure you can do whatever you set your mind to.”

The compliment from her mate was unexpected but made her heart swell. She knew the others were just teasing her, but it felt good to have someone on her side for once. She found herself leaning in to Austin’s embrace.

So close to her mate, she could feel the contentment and care coming from the man. A sudden surge of emotion hit her. She made him feel that way. Trying to hide her feelings, she cleared her throat.

“Thank you,” she whispered for his ears only.

He tightened his arm for just a second then pulled her forwards. “I’d like you to meet some people,” he told her.

Kiley let him lead her over to the table where the men sat and Jesse was happily swinging her legs in her uncle’s lap.

“Kiley, this is my Beta, Colt,” he introduced an attractive blond man. Like the other wolf shifters, he was big but the smile lines around his eyes and broad grin on his face made him a little more approachable.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly.

His smile still in place, he bowed his head. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he responded.

Kiley knew he wasn’t talking about her so much as about his Alpha’s mate. Strangely that didn’t bother her.

“And this is Tony. He is visiting from the Blue Ridge Pack in Oklahoma,” Austin continued.

The other man at the table was just as big as Colt but much more serious. His eyes held so much worry in them that Kiley felt a strong urge to offer him a hug. And she never wanted to do that. It surprised her, so she simply dipped her chin in respect.

If she had to guess, this man was the one who had come to talk about the wolf shifters going public. Kiley wasn’t sure  of what that would entail, but she’d heard others talk about it for the last few months.

Being Rogue, she didn’t have to worry about whether or not her Pack would choose to agree. Or, she hadn’t been worried about it. But Austin had been right earlier—if she mated with him she would have to join his Pack.

She lifted her face up to her mate’s to ask what he planned, but they were interrupted before she could.

“Daddy!” Jesse yelled and was out of Dominic’s lap and across the room.

Tyler laughed and bent to scoop her up as she ran to him. “Hey, baby girl.”

“Me and Kiley…”

“Kiley and I,” Tyler corrected before she could finish her sentence.

Jesse scrunched up her face and sighed heavily. “Kiley and I…” she repeated. “We’re gonna make cookies!”

The Alpha’s eyes darted to her. “I don’t know if I carry that much home insurance.”

Kiley’s mouth dropped open. Oh no, he had not just said that! She threw her arms up in the air. “One time!” she cried.  “And it wasn’t even my fault!”

“Kiley, you caught a table on fire,” Gray reminded her.

She glared over her shoulder at him before looking up at Austin. “It wasn’t my fault.”

He nodded in agreement.

She sighed and relaxed against him again, thinking about the day they were talking about.         

Kiley had avoided going up to the main house as much as she could. But it had been Jesse’s birthday, and she couldn’t have missed it for any reason. Somehow while she was there, Gray and Dominic had put her in charge of the grill while they went to get Jesse’s new bike out of the house.

And that was when all hell had broken loose. The flame had somehow caught on a tablecloth, which had blazed up so quickly that Kiley was still staring at it when it moved to the chairs.

No one had been hurt and the guys had been able to put the fire out quickly, but to this day they still teased her. She didn’t mind too much—except it made her feel like family, like Pack. And she wasn’t either of those things.

Kiley shivered when Austin’s mouth pressed close to her ear. “I have plenty of home insurance,” he promised.

It felt so good to have his arm around his mate, Austin could have died and gone to heaven happy. It surprised him a little that Kiley allowed him the privilege, but he wasn’t going to complain.

When the teasing had started from the others, he could feel her embarassment, amusement and, surprisingly, sadness. He didn’t know what about it made her sad, but he never wanted her to feel that way again.

As soon as they had finished with the meetings scheduled for the day, he planned to spend some alone time with his mate, getting to know her better.

He liked the fact that she seemed to have a strong will. He’d hoped for a mate who would be able to stand up and challenge him when she needed to. He had never been attracted to submissive women. He worried Kiley might be just a bit too stubborn but knew he could handle any conflicts that might come up. He couldn’t wait to take her home and see how she would get along with his Pack.

His Pack was so small that they were more like an extended family. While Tyler had over two hundred members, Austin was very happy with his intimate fifty or so. Okay, fifty-three, to be exact.

He wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation around him until he heard Kiley say she would head to her apartment to pack a couple of bags.

“One of my men will accompany you,” he told her automatically.

She stiffened. Instantly he knew he should have phrased that better.

“It will be safer for you to have an escort,” he tried.

She whirled on him, eyebrows raised and hands on her hips. “An escort? For me to drive ten minutes, pack a bag, and drive back. Thirty minutes tops?”

Austin nodded, glad she understood.

“Will I sit in the back like a good little pup while my chauffeur makes any stops I want?” she asked.

Okay, the sarcasm was not lost on him.

“Umm…well,” Austin was at a loss for what to say.

“So the little bitty woman needs a strong man to act as her guard?” Kiley continued to taunt.

Austin glanced at Tyler and saw the other man’s lips twitch. No help there. He looked over at Gray, hoping that since the other man knew her so well he would maybe convey something to him. But Gray had his head bent to the table. The one time he needed the other man’s experience, he didn’t get anything.  Beside Gray, Tony was avoiding looking at him. Dominic was turned away, with Jesse on his lap staring at them. He darted his gaze to his best friend, but Colt just sat there with his eyes wide and mouth open.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Kiley cut him off. “Of course it was. Get one thing straight. I may be your mate but that does not mean you get to dictate everything I do. We are either equal partners or we’re nothing.”

Austin opened his mouth to tell her he wanted them to be equal but Kiley didn’t even slow down her rant.

“I don’t know what it is about Alpha men who think they can just issue orders and expect them to be followed, but that is so not going to happen,” Kiley stated loudly.

Austin shook his head. “I didn’t…”

Kiley huffed and quickly walked over to Jesse, picking the girl up in her arms. She headed for the door then turned back once more.

“We’ll make cookies later. I believe you gentlemen have a meeting.”

Austin just stared at her. He didn’t know what to say.

“I’ll get my bags, don’t you worry about that. Right now Jesse and I are going upstairs to work on a puzzle.”

And with that, his mate sashayed out of the kitchen.

Austin continued to stare at the empty doorway for several minutes before he turned to the other men. “What in the hell just happened?” he asked.

The entire room burst out laughing. Austin wasn’t amused.

“She did just admit to being your mate,” Colt pointed out.

Austin grinned. “She did, didn’t she?”