Wolf Gone Wild

Page 35

I blew out the candles while Clara gathered her things back in her box. Violet walked on toward the carriage house while Jules and I went inside quietly.

“Goodnight,” I said cheerily, heading toward the hallway.

She gave me a funny look and nodded as she went up the stairs. “Night.”

Once in my bedroom, I shut the door and leaned back against it, blowing out a heavy, shaky breath.

“It wasn’t real,” I whispered.

If it wasn’t, why did it feel like it had actually happened?

Chapter 22

~MATEO~

“You mean those wastes of space called the Blood Moon Brothers?”

I couldn’t help but smile at Nico’s hard tone. Once upon a time, he had been one of those wastes of space.

“Nah, man. They shift multiple times a week. They’re more wolf than man, to be honest.”

Let’s join them. Sounds like my kind of guys.

Don’t start with me. Those fuckers are criminals of the worst kind.

But you heard him. They shift all the time.

After tonight, you’ll have free rein. We’ll stay in the wetlands for a week so you can hunt till your heart’s content.

I’m starting to like you.

Nico drank down the rest of his beer and set it on my coffee table. “Besides, if one of them went dormant or couldn’t shift, he’d be in some deep shit. Roman, the president of the Brothers, won’t abide any kind of weakness. He’d make that guy disappear.” He winced. “Not that it’s a sign of weakness.”

“No worries,” I assured him. Those Lycan gangs had creative ways of making people disappear. “Want another beer?”

He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got time for one more, but then I’ve got a gig at El Gato Negro in the Quarter.”

I pulled two more Abita Ambers from the fridge, popped the tops, and handed him one, spreading myself out in the overstuffed chair next to the sofa.

Nico leaned forward, elbows on knees, frowning down at my hardwood cypress floors. “I mean, you can’t think of anyone? An old girlfriend you pissed off?”

I blew out a breath. “Man, if I did, I would’ve chased her down by now. It’s so fucking frustrating, you have no idea.”

“I can’t imagine.” He rubbed his lip with his index finger, back and forth, thinking it over. “And you said your wolf talks to you?”

“All the time. Twenty-four-seven.” I took a pull on my beer. “Except when Evie’s around.”

Nico’s mouth tilted up on one side. “The Hex-breaker, eh?”

He better get that lusty look off his fucking face, or I’ll punch it off.

“Yeah.”

“So why hasn’t she broken the hex already?”

“We’re meeting tonight actually. They, uh, hadn’t worked with werewolves before so Evie and her older sister needed to do some research.”

He chuckled darkly. “I got that impression when I hit up the oldest one, Jules, for a gig at the Cauldron.”

I sat up straight, curious at that. “They didn’t advertise? You went to Jules?”

He tapped his fingers on his knee like he was playing a tune on the piano, a nervous habit he had as a kid. “Yeah. I had no idea you knew one of those witches, though.”

“I’m kind of shocked Jules hired you, to be honest. It wasn’t easy for her to agree to let Evie help me.”

“She didn’t seem to care much for werewolves.” He took a swig of the longneck. “But I was able to charm her into it.”

It was true Nico could charm the pants off just about anybody, but Jules was a no-nonsense witch. What was probably closer to the truth was that she’d opened the door for me and maybe thought she’d try to be more open-minded by the time Nico had come around looking for work.

“Hello?” Evie’s voice called from down below as two sets of feet stomped up the stairs from my workshop.

“Come on up!” I headed over to the landing where the stairs opened right beside my kitchen.

My apartment was almost a completely open floorplan. Only my bedroom and bathroom were sectioned off from the large living and kitchen space. The vaulted ceiling with cypress beams elevated the space even more, especially with two sets of glass French doors that opened onto a narrow balcony. It was the perfect space for me.

Nico growled, or should I say his wolf did, a deep-chested rumble that faded almost as soon as I’d heard it.

What the fuck? Am I going to have to beat the shit out of your cousin again?

I got my answer as soon as Evie stepped up onto the landing with her sister, Violet. That rumbling growl wasn’t for my Evie. It was for her sister. Nico was already standing, his beer forgotten, his hands loose at his sides, but his relaxed posture was a lying bitch. A ripple of alpha waves bounced off me. I glanced over my shoulder with a chill-the-fuck-out look. He looked at the floor and cleared his throat.

“Hey,” said Evie, all sweet and shy. I wanted to kiss the fuck out of her. I wasn’t sure how she’d respond in front of an audience, so I satisfied myself with a swift peck on the mouth. I licked my lips, that cherry Chapstick she wore, pummeling my ability to keep my hands off her.

“Hey.” I slid a hand around her waist and gave her hip a tight squeeze.

“Hey,” she said again, grinning like a maniac.

“For the love of God, can y’all just go scratch your itch in the bedroom,” snapped Violet as she pushed past Evie. Then she froze, catching sight of Nico by my sofa.

I have to say it was really entertaining to see the mouthiest chick I’d ever met stunned stupid and completely silent.

“Evie, this is my cousin, Nico. Nico, this is Evie and her sister, Violet.”

“Hi.” Evie waved politely, leaning her body along the side of mine. I choked back the groan of satisfaction.

Nico ate up the few steps between us, shaking Evie’s hand quickly, then holding out his hand for Violet. She crossed her arms and tucked them under her armpits, leaving him hanging. He dropped it with a smirk, then tapped a tune out against his thigh.

“Seems you two already know each other,” I added.

That snapped Violet back to attention. “Know each other? We don’t know each other.”

“We’ve met,” said Nico, his tilted smile and sharp gaze fully on the crazy sister.

“Briefly,” she spat. “That doesn’t mean we know each other.”

“Y’all met after his set at the Cauldron last night?” asked Evie.

“No. Please. Not even.” Violet rolled her eyes as if that were the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. Someone was overreacting.

“Soooo, where did you meet then?” Evie raised an eyebrow at Violet.

Nico opened his mouth to say something, but Violet practically shrieked, “None of your business!”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Violet, what are you? Twelve? Why is it top secret?”

“It’s not.” She stared daggers at my cousin. “It’s just none of your business. Can we go now?”

“Jeesh.” Evie glanced up at me. “Ready?”

“Do y’all need some help?” asked Nico. “I could come along if—”

“Absolutely not.” Violet snorted and scoffed at the same time, sounding like a pig sneezing. “No one is allowed at a hex-breaking ceremony but us and the hexee.”

“Well, then.” Nico grinned. “I’ll see myself out.” He walked toward her, brushing his arm aggressively against Violet’s as he passed, even as she tried to step out of the way.

I stared down and bit back a smile, knowing full well what that meant to a werewolf. Overt touches, brushes of the body or hands on skin in casual settings, especially in front of any kind of audience, was a way a werewolf staked his claim on a mate.

My mind came to a screeching halt at a sudden realization. I’d been touching Evie constantly since the very beginning. Had I been staking my claim before I even knew it? I’d been wrapped up in my need for her touch because of her hex-breaking mojo or whatever, but what if it had more to do with my need to imprint myself on her? What if the calm I felt when she was near me had nothing to do with her hex-breaking magic and everything to do with the fact I wanted her, that my wolf saw her as…?

Mine.

Whoa.

“Ready to go?” Evie squeezed my hand she was now holding, looking up at me all bright and cheery, not realizing my world just rocked sideways. I couldn’t move for a second, frozen by the discovery that Alpha had been staking his claim all along.

“You okay?”

I shook myself, then grabbed my keys off the counter. “Let’s go.”

After locking up, we exited through the garage. Evie slid into the middle of the bench seat of my truck with Violet on the other side. I’d gone mute, processing this new discovery. If it was, in fact, a discovery.

I was stunned silent for a while as I drove onto the interstate. Violet had put the address in her GPS on her phone. We bumped along quietly until Evie squeezed my arm just below my bicep.

“You sure you’re okay?”

I held her green gaze, pulse quickening at the sight and scent of her this close. I remember my father sitting with me on the back porch in San Antonio when I was eighteen, not long before I left home. He was smoking a cheroot, the sweet smoke still imprinted in my memory. I’d asked him about how he met my mother and how he knew she was the one for him. At the time, I was infatuated with a girl in my senior class. My hormones were raging, and I couldn’t tell if I was in love with the girl or just her mile-long legs and fantastic rack. So Dad, his eyes squinted from the cigar smoke swirling around him, looked over at me and said, “Son, a man can fall for many women, but the wolf falls only once.”

Is that what this was about? Was she the one?

Nothing.

What? NOW you shut up?

A husky chuckle in my mind.

I hate you.

You hate yourself?

You’re not me.

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