Wolf Gone Wild

It still didn’t stop him from being an insane flirt whenever I saw him.

“Hi, Travis.” I waved.

“Hey, beautiful. When are we getting married again?”

“We’re not.”

“You’re sure?” He smiled, sky-rocketing from handsome to hose-me-down hot.

“Quite sure.”

“Fine then.” He sighed heavily like I’d really put him out. “The least you can do is save me a dance at the Coven Guild Party. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Right.” I shook my head, grinning at his ruthless flirting. “I would, except I don’t go to those things with Jules. Not anymore.”

Drew frowned. “But you have to go to this one. You’re hosting it.”

A spike of adrenaline shot through my veins, rushing like flame through my blood. I glanced up at Jules who was giving me her oh-shit look. I rarely saw it because Jules didn’t need this look. Her resting bitch face was pretty much what she wore ninety percent of the time. But right now, she knew she’d screwed up. “I can explain.”

“Uh-oh,” said Is.

“Wear something hot,” added Travis. “Strapless.”

“We’ll call when we land in Switzerland.” Izzy blew me a kiss and clicked off the video app before the guys could even wave goodbye. That’s because Isadora knew what shit-storm was about to go down.

“Why in the hell are we hosting it?” I asked Jules, clicking off the app then rounding the counter toward her.

“I was going to tell you, but I just needed the right moment.”

“There isn’t a right moment.”

“The summit has rotated to other covens for years now, and it’s our turn. I can’t tell all the leaders we can’t host because you’re still pissed at your ex.”

“I’m not pissed at him. I broke up with him, remember?”

“Good. Then there’s no reason to avoid him.”

“You can take our other sisters. They’ll be enough to play hostess with you. You don’t need me there.”

“Evie.” Jules sighed and tucked her straight dark hair behind one ear. “It will look strange for my closest sister to not be there. Especially since you’ve been avoiding the summit for years. They might suspect trouble within our ranks. We can’t allow that.”

Dammit. I leaned my back against the counter and crossed my arms. She was right. There was no question that Jules was the most powerful witch in all of the New Orleans region, but if there was any suspicion there was tension in our household, which could lead to volatile results for witch covens, it would be bad news. The entire Guild could investigate us, interrogate us, and move some other witches into power.

I’m not going to say that Jules is a control freak, but Jules is a control freak. It wouldn’t matter if they investigated us, but what would I say? No, my sister and I are fine. I’m just being an immature child and don’t want to stare at my ex’s arrogant ass all night at a cocktail party.

“You don’t have to come to the coven meetings. Just make a quick appearance at the cocktail party so you can smile and greet the rest of the Guild, then you can leave.”

That didn’t sound so bad. Then why did my stomach twist into a knot just thinking about it? I knew exactly why, of course, but I didn’t want to think about him. Or the way he’d used me to get what he wanted, all the while belittling me for what I wanted.

“Like an hour tops,” she pleaded and then added in her maternal voice, “Evie, please. Come on.”

The doorbell rang. Mateo. And just like that, all thoughts of douchebag Derek were gone. I schooled my features so Jules wouldn’t see how excited I was about the man on our doorstep.

“Fine,” I huffed all begrudgingly. “One hour.”

Then I marched out of the kitchen and practically ran to the front door. I swung it open then almost choked on air. I’d become accustomed to Mateo’s tall and utterly stunning beauty in his worn-out faded jeans and clingy T-shirts, but this version of him made me a tad weak-kneed. And by a tad, I mean I had to suddenly grip the doorjamb to keep myself in a standing position. In a long-sleeved, jade-green button-down that somehow made his brown eyes softer, prettier, and fucking hypnotic, and wearing dark blue jeans that fit far too well on his muscled thighs and no doubt his fine ass—once I got a good look from behind, I’d confirm that—he looked completely dreamy. If that wasn’t enough, his dark, wavy hair was pulled back in a short ponytail except for a perfect wispy strand that dangled at the most sensual angle on the outer edge of his right eye that amped him from super-hot to sex god. And his smell! What was he wearing? Some kind of werewolf pheromone cologne? Where did they sell it? Could I buy enough to bathe in it?

I glanced down at myself in jean cut-offs and my newest Wolverine T-shirt, feeling utterly under-dressed. For my own Sunday dinner.

“You didn’t have to dress up,” I said, while wanting to cut out my own tongue the second I said it. Because him dressed this way made me want to lay him out on the dinner table instead of Jules’s shrimp creole.

Friends-friends-friends. Friends-friends-friends. Maybe if I chanted it enough in my head, it would sink in.

“I didn’t want to look like a slob for your family.”

“Well…” I blew out a breath as I looked him over one last time. “Goal achieved.”

He glanced away, a flush of color filling his cheeks. Was he blushing? I wanted to eat him up.

“Can I come in?” he asked with a shy smile.

I realized then I was just standing there, blocking his entrance, staring. Ogling, really. Probably drooling. I needed to carry a handkerchief with me nowadays to prevent such embarrassment.

“Of course. Come on in.”

He handed me a bottle of merlot as he stepped inside.

“Mateo. You’re good. Buttering up my sister, eh?”

He put both hands in his front pockets, an innocent gesture he seemed to do in order to make his tall, lean-muscled frame appear less threatening. Silly werewolf.

“I know she wasn’t crazy about this idea in the first place, of helping me, so I thought it couldn’t hurt.”

“Smart man. And it’s the exact merlot she loves the best. How did you know? Are you stalking her?” I play-frowned.

“Nah.” He pointed to his nose. “I figured out which one she was drinking that night I met her. Just a stroll down the wine aisle is all it took.”

“That’s some impressive olfactory senses.”

“I can be pretty impressive sometimes.”

“And so humble.”

When I nudged him with my shoulder, he looked down with a timid smile. A loose strand of hair fell forward, then he tucked it behind his ear before locking on my gaze again. Those warm brown eyes held me captive as always.

Distracting from the sudden heat passing between us, I said lightheartedly, “As long as you’re not stalking her then.”

“If I was going to stalk anyone, it would be you, Evie.”

While we both laughed, there was a thread of nervousness rippling between us. When I looked up as we stepped through the living room, his smile slipped, his expression shifted, darkening so fast I almost missed it. A primal shiver zinged through my bones, then we were standing by the dining room table and his polite smile made an appearance again. The dining room overlooked the brick courtyard and opened up to the kitchen.

“Welcome, Mateo,” said Jules.

“He brought wine,” I said cheerily, passing it to her.

“Thank you.” Her face actually softened when she saw the label. “That was kind of you. Go ahead and have a seat.”

“Hi, Mateo,” said Clara sweetly, coming in the back kitchen door. “Good to see you again.”

“And you.”

“You can sit here,” I said, pointing to the seat Isadora usually occupied right next to me. “I’ll get your plate.”

“Where’s Violet?” asked Jules.

“She was right behind me.” Clara pointed to the door she’d left ajar.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Chapter 14

~MATEO~

Fucking hell!

The blur of motion and sudden squeal of females jarred me so badly I didn’t even think. I grabbed Evie around the waist and jumped back toward the living room, watching the streak of black, followed by a puffed-up rooster. Then Violet whizzed by.

“Goddammit, Fred!”

The black streak, which I recognized quickly as Evie’s cat Z, moved faster than I thought was possible for the old bag of bones. He leaped up onto the kitchen counter, leaving the rooster to squawk and cluck angrily from below. The cat sat and stared, his twitching tail the only sign he was agitated by the chase.

“Violet!” yelled Jules. “If that rooster loses one feather in my kitchen, I’m going to wring his neck and fry him for dinner.”

Violet gasped, then scooped the rooster off the floor and pulled him close to her chest. “Don’t even say such things. Fred will be—”

She stopped, clutching her rooster who happened to be wearing a purple polka-dotted bowtie, then swiveled her gaze to me. That’s when I noticed everyone had stopped and was staring at me. That’s also when I noticed I was growling. Well, Alpha was growling. I was also clasping Evie in a death-grip around the waist and the front of her shoulders, pressing her to me with an insane amount of force.

“Back off.” The deep, rough voice of Alpha rumbled up my throat and out of my mouth.

Clara gasped. Jules took one step forward, her palms facing me at her sides, fingers spread.

Oh, fuck.

That’s right. Daddy’s got his girl.

Stop growling, motherfucker, before they cast a spell or something. Let Evie go.

As soon as the threat is gone.

There’s no threat, you Neanderthal.

I will protect her from all foul creatures.

It’s a rooster and a damn cat!